UNRWA says northern West Bank refugee camps nearly emptied amid widespread destruction

“This comes less than a week after 11 houses were demolished in the same camp, 14 other houses in the Tulkarm Camp, and controlled detonations in Jenin Camp around a month ago that left the camp uninhabitable,” read the statement.
“These large-scale demolitions are an alarming new pattern. They have an unprecedented impact on the Palestine Refugees and seek to permanently change the characteristics of the camps in the northern West Bank,” stressed UNRWA.
The Israeli operation has resulted in the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since the 1967 war, with some 40,000 people forced from their homes, added the UN relief agency.
UNRWA teams on the ground are working to meet the needs of those displaced, under the ever-shrinking humanitarian space in the West Bank. The Israeli anti-UNRWA laws, which came into effect on 30 January 2025, have created a vacuum of international protective presence when it is most needed, the statement concluded.
In a related development, Israeli so-called ‘Defense’ Minister, Israel Katz, announced that he has instructed the military to continue its occupation of Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank until the end of the year.
Katz made this statement on Friday while attending the "Federal Zionism" conference in Tel Aviv, as reported by Israel today.
He boasted about the displacement of 40,000 people from the Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams, amid the ongoing aggression that has persisted for approximately 50 days.
Since the launch of its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military and colonists have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These assaults have resulted in the killing of nearly 930 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 7,000 others and the detention of 14,500 individuals.