Palestinians displaced from refugee camps in the northern West Bank are demanding to return to their homes after an Israeli military takeover of the camps, and they fear that proposed U.S. plans for rebuilding the camps will completely erase them.
Following the Tulkarem Brigade’s first armed operation against Israeli forces in eight months, the Israeli army arrested over 1,000 Palestinians at random and marched them through the streets of Tulkarem, in an act of “collective vengeance.”
Six months since Israel’s expanded military assault on the refugee camps of Jenin and Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, over 42,000 Palestinian refugees remain forcibly displaced and have no stable access to food, water, or shelter.
Inside the human toll of Israel’s campaign of forcible displacement in the northern West Bank’s refugee camps.
The Israeli army expanded its “Iron Wall” offensive in the northern West Bank, sending tanks into Jenin for the first time in two decades and announcing that displaced residents from Jenin and Tulkarem would not be allowed to return to their homes.
Israel has killed 55 Palestinians after one month of its ongoing “Iron Wall” offensive in the West Bank. Killings, mass displacement, and uncertainty are the new normal.
The forcible displacement of over 40,000 people in the northern West Bank is repeating scenes from Gaza and stoking fears of ethnic cleansing. “The most important thing is to stay in our home,” a resident of al-Far’a refugee camp tells Mondoweiss.
Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the West Bank has forcibly displaced 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, according to UNRWA.
Palestinians say life has been “paralyzed” as Israel expands its military operations to Tulkarem and the northern Jordan Valley. Ground troops have been deployed, imposing curfews and carrying out home demolitions, forcibly displacing thousands.
I met resistance fighters from the Tulkarem Brigade for an interview in the alleyways of Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. They talked about why they fight against Israel, and what their dreams are for the future.