As Israeli forces move to take over remaining UNRWA facilities in Jerusalem, residents of Qalandia and Shufaat refugee camps fear the assault on the UN agency is linked to the ongoing Israeli military crackdown on the camps.
Israel has vowed to occupy another West Bank refugee camp, as it did in Jenin and Tulkarem. A new raid on the Qalandia refugee camp makes clear that the Israeli campaign isn’t only about ending Palestinian resistance but also what the camps represent.
Amid escalating raids and statements by Israeli officials promising a massive military operation against refugee camps in the West Bank, Palestinians in Ramallah-area camps say it’s not a question of whether their turn will come, but when.
Residents of Qalandia refugee camp outside Ramallah say escalating Israeli raids now come with orders to leave their homes or suffer the same fate as Jenin camp. “Just saying ‘Jenin’ is enough,” one resident said. “Everyone knows what it means.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Qalandia refugee camp and Kufr Aqab are cut off from Jerusalem by the apartheid wall and separated from other Palestinian towns. Now, a new Israeli settlement plan threatens to displace them completely.