Israel’s expulsion of 32,000 Palestinians from three northern West Bank refugee camps early this year amounts to a war crime and crime against humanity, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
HRW’s senior researcher Nadia Hardman said: “With global attention focused on Gaza, Israeli forces have carried out war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank that should be investigated and prosecuted.”
The displaced have not been allowed to return to their homes, according to the report, which said: “The Geneva Conventions prohibit displacement of civilians from occupied territory except temporarily for imperative military reasons or the population’s security. Displaced civilians are entitled to protection, accommodation, and to return as soon as hostilities in the vicinity cease.”
The report, “All My Dreams Have Been Erased”: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, describes how Israel’s “Operation Iron Wall” was carried out in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nar Shams refugee camps.
RM Block
This began on January 21st, 2025, shortly after a ceasefire was imposed in Gaza, and systematically advanced until early February. After loudspeakers mounted on drones ordered civilians to leave, troops “moved methodically through the camps, storming homes, ransacking properties, interrogating residents, and eventually forcing all families out,” according to HRW.
Bulldozers, helicopters, armed drones, and armoured vehicles were deployed with armed soldiers.
“The Israeli military provided no shelter or humanitarian assistance to displaced residents. Many sought shelter in the crowded homes of relatives or friends, or turned to mosques, schools, and charities,” according to the HRW report.
Since the expulsions, the Israeli military has razed buildings and cleared spaces to create wide access routes within the camps while blocking entrances. Satellite imagery consulted by HRW in October “showed more than 850 homes and other buildings had been destroyed or heavily damaged across the three camps,” HRW stated. It contended that the forced removal of the UN camp dwellers amounted to “ethnic cleansing”.
Israeli officials said in a letter to HRW that this operation was carried out “in light of the security threats posed by these camps and the growing presence of terrorist elements within them”.
Israel has not replied to HRW’s queries about when, if ever, the Palestinians will be allowed to return.
HRW called for war crimes investigations, including by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, into high-ranking Israeli officials, notably prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. HRW urged governments to exert pressure on Israel to end its repressive policies in the West Bank and Gaza.
[ Israel’s far right pushes death-penalty Bill critics say will target PalestiniansOpens in new window ]
