UN says 40,000 displaced in West Bank as Israel accused of readying annexation
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has warned that the forcible expulsion of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is "escalating at an alarming pace", with Israel displacing 40,000 people in recent weeks.
On 21 January, Israel launched a large-scale assault on the northern occupied West Bank, just days after the Gaza ceasefire began. The military started in Jenin and its surrounding areas, killing 25 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The offensive expanded to Tulkarm on 27 January, where five Palestinians were killed. On 2 February, Israel launched another operation in Tamoun and the Fara'a camp in Tubas, withdrawing from Tamoun after a week but continuing its offensive in Fara'a.
Israeli forces are particularly targeting refugee camps, including those in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, putting an already vulnerable population at risk.
Unrwa on Monday said several refugee camps have been "nearly emptied of their residents", adding that this is the longest campaign in the territory since the 2000-2005 Second Intifada.
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"Jenin camp stands empty today, evoking memories of the second intifada. This scene stands to be repeated in other camps," Unrwa said.
According to the UN agency, more than 60 percent of the displacement of Palestinians recorded in the West Bank last year was due to Israeli military operations.
"Repeated and destructive operations have rendered the northern refugee camps uninhabitable, trapping residents in cyclical displacement," it added.
'Jenin camp stands empty today, evoking memories of the second intifada'
- Unrwa
Jamal Juma'a, head of the Stop the Wall campaign, an organisation that fights against apartheid, told Middle East Eye that the Israeli offensive is "clearly aiming to prepare the infrastructure for the annexation of land" in the West Bank.
Annexation of occupied territory is illegal under international law. The Israeli government prefers to term it as "applying sovereignty", though that makes little difference legally. Legality hasn't stopped Israel from annexation before, however.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has annexed occupied East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights in moves never recognised by the international community.
Juma'a indicated that such an acceleration in land seizures is Israel's attempt at gaining US President Donald Trump's approval for it claiming sovereignty over the territory, in spite of international law and Palestinian rights.
Attacking Palestinian resistance
Palestinian armed resistance has been growing in the northern West Bank in recent years.
Juma'a said that Israel's targeting of refugee camps is done because they are believed to be the "source of resistance".
"Such a military operation reminds me of the 2002 mass invasion of the West Bank," Juma'a recalled.
He believes Israel's current operation is the second stage of a plan begun when it built the "apartheid wall", as he characterises the separation barrier built between Israeli communities and Palestinians in the West Bank.
"They finished [building] the system, now they want to implement the annexation of the West Bank and cement the apartheid system they are creating."
Besides eliminating armed resistance, Juma'a said that Israel's focus on camps is also aimed at getting rid of the refugee problem, which he suggested is similar to events in Gaza.
Around 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes by Zionist militias during the 1948 Nakba that created Israel. Today, their descendants make up the seven million Palestinian refugees worldwide.
About a million of those live in the West Bank, around a quarter of which live in 19 refugee camps.
During Trump's 2017-2021 term as president, Israel seemed primed to announce it was annexing Area C, the part of the West Bank fully controlled by the Israeli military.
Though this has not come to fruition, the US president has recently called for the Palestinians of Gaza to be permanently expelled and hinted that the West Bank should become part of Israel.
"They want to get rid of the refugee issue as it's the evidence of their big massive crime of genocide that they did in 1948," Juma'a said, noting Israel's recent banning of Unrwa and large-scale destruction of camps.
In late January, an Israeli ban on Unrwa operating in Israel and occupied Palestine came into effect.
The agency warned that the ban has made it "impossible to raise concerns about civilian suffering or the urgent need for the delivery of humanitarian assistance", saying that this "puts at grave risk the lives of Palestine Refugees and the Unrwa staff that serve them."
The UN agency provides aid, health and education services to millions in occupied Palestine, as well as the millions of Palestinians living in refugee camps in the neighbouring countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Juma'a said Israel's far-right government, "which is supported by a big portion of the Israeli society", believes now is the perfect time to target the refugee issue as it has the support of the United States.
He added that Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed at least 48,000 people, proved the Israelis would have immunity and support from the US and Europe to carry out their wishes.
But, he noted, "what they are doing is very dangerous, not just for Palestinians, but also for Israeli people".
"[Israel] will not get rid of the Palestinians, they will instead create a huge problem within the region and the Arab world... if things continue this way, they will create a huge refugee problem," Juma'a said, adding that Europe will be negatively affected.
"We see now how this threatens the whole security of the world, so people must stand up against this. Palestinians will not remain silent, and the region will not remain stable by the continued massacre of the Palestinian people and the continued genocide... We will not be finished."
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