The United Nations accused this Friday the Israeli security forces of having forcibly expelled entire Palestinian communities from three refugee camps in the West Bank during several operations carried out in January and February 2025, and of continuing to prevent their return, which has raised concerns about a possible "ethnic cleansing."
The report, titled "Destruction of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Northern West Bank" and prepared by the UN Human Rights Office, details that military, police, and other units deployed in the area killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and basic infrastructure, cut off water and electricity supply, and blocked the entry of humanitarian aid to the camps of Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem.
According to the document, the security forces went through the homes one by one forcing residents to leave, and it estimates that around 52% of the structures in the Jenin camp, as well as 48% and 36% of those in Nur Shams and Tulkarem, respectively, had been destroyed or were damaged as of October 2025.
"A few days after the start of operation 'Iron Wall', the Israeli security forces consolidated their control over the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem and forcibly displaced their entire population," the text states, which is based on independent observation and documentation from the UN Human Rights Office.
The office has also received testimonies from displaced individuals who claim to have been informed that there would no longer be refugee camps and that "everyone should go to Jordan."
The report describes a systematic, massive, and prolonged displacement of more than 33,000 Palestinians from these camps during that period, in which the death of more than a hundred Palestinians was also recorded, including 21 minors, raising fears of possible crimes against humanity due to the forced relocation of the population.
The document emphasizes that the use of airstrikes, armored bulldozers, and controlled detonations to render the camps uninhabitable, force their inhabitants to flee, and prevent them from returning, without an imperative military necessity, appears to constitute "collective punishment" and could amount to "ethnic cleansing."
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has pointed out that "the way the 'Iron Wall' operation was carried out suggests that its objective was to expel as many Palestinians as possible and pave the way for more illegal Israeli settlements, in a new violation of International Law."
"Israel must end its 59 years of occupation of Palestinian territory and cease any attempts to forcibly displace more Palestinians and continue disrupting the continuity of a future Palestinian state," Turk has stated, according to a statement released by the agency following the publication of the report.
Turk has emphasized that Israel "must take measures to comply with its obligations under International Law, as clarified by the explicit conclusion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), more than two years ago, that it must end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible."