Palestinian rights group reports ethnic cleansing by Israel in the West Bank

The populations of three Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank were forcibly displaced and prevented from returning for more than a year, according to a new report from the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The report, titled “Destruction of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Northern West Bank,” documents the impact of Israel’s Operation Iron Wall in the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps. The Israeli military launched the operation in January 2025, deploying military and police forces across the occupied northern West Bank.

“Days after the beginning of Operation Iron Wall, Israeli security forces consolidated their control over the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps and forcibly displaced their entire populations,” the report said, according to Palestine Chronicle. It said Israeli forces killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and other infrastructure, cut water and electricity supplies, restricted humanitarian access and went from house to house ordering Palestinians to leave.

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Days after the beginning of Operation Iron Wall, Israeli security forces consolidated their control over the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps and forcibly displaced their entire populations.

By October 2025, about 52% of buildings in Jenin camp had been destroyed or damaged, compared with 48% in Nur Shams and 36% in Tulkarm. The three camps are among 19 refugee camps established in the occupied West Bank for Palestinians displaced during the Nakba, the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948.

The U.N. human rights office said testimony from displaced Palestinians raised further concerns about the operation’s purpose. Some residents told investigators that Israeli officials said there would be no more refugee camps and that everyone should “go to Jordan.”

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go to Jordan