The Japan Times - Israel emptying West Bank refugee camps could be crime against humanity: UN

In a report slammed by Israel, the UN rights office described how a military operation launched in the north of the occupied territory in January 2025 had forcibly displaced over 33,000 people.

At the start of operation "Iron Wall", Israeli military, police and other forces entered the camps and killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged infrastructure, it said.

They cut off water and electricity and barred humanitarian access to the camps before going door to door "forcing residents to leave", it added.

A few days into the operation, Israeli security forces "consolidated their control" over the camps and "forcibly displaced their population in their entirety", the report said.

"The large-scale, long-term and systematic displacement of over 33,000 Palestinian refugees from refugee camps such as Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm during Israel's Operation Iron Wall ... raises serious concerns of the crime against humanity of forcible transfer," it warned.

As of July this year, 33,362 Palestinian refugees displaced from the three camps had not been permitted to return, according to the UN.

- 'Ethnic cleansing' -

The rights office said "the use of airstrikes, armoured bulldozers and controlled detonations, to render entire camps uninhabitable, to force the displacement of their residents and to prevent their return... are not permissible under international law".

Israel's actions "appear to amount to collective punishment and raise concerns of ethnic cleansing", it warned.

Israel's mission in Geneva said the rights office had set "aside impartiality, independence and neutrality, to serve as the epicentre of vile activism".

It accused the report of "spreading misinformation" and "neglecting to mention the threat of terrorist attacks".

The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The violence escalated significantly with the launch of Operation Iron Wall on January 21 last year, 48 hours after a fragile ceasefire came into effect in the Gaza Strip.

Israel announced on February 23, 2025 that its army had emptied the three refugee camps, which figure among a total of 19 across the West Bank.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said at the time that he had instructed troops "to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism".

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Friday that the way the operation was conducted "suggests its aim was to expel as many Palestinians as possible and to make way for more illegal Israeli settlements, in further violation of international law".

H.Hayashi--JT