UN Reports Israeli Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank

Israeli occupation forces have forcibly displaced the entire Palestinian population from three refugee camps in the occupied West Bank. They have also prevented tens of thousands of residents from returning for over a year, according to a new report from the UN Human Rights Office.

The report, titled ‘Destruction of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Northern West Bank’, documents the impact of Israel’s ‘Operation Iron Wall’ on the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm refugee camps.

The Israeli military launched the operation in January 202<0xA0>25, deploying military and police forces across the occupied northern West Bank.

“A few days after the start of Operation Iron Wall, Israeli security forces consolidated their control over the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm refugee camps and forcibly displaced their entire populations,” the report stated, as cited by the Palestine Chronicle.

According to the UN, Israeli forces have killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and other infrastructure, cut off water and electricity supplies, restricted humanitarian access, and conducted house-to-house searches to order Palestinian residents to leave.

As of October 2025, approximately 52 per cent of buildings in the Jenin refugee camp have been destroyed or damaged, compared to 48 per cent in Nur Shams and 36 per cent in Tulkarm.

These three camps are among the 19 refugee camps established in the occupied West Bank to house Palestinians displaced during the Nakba, the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948.

The UN Human Rights Office stated that testimonies collected from displaced Palestinians raise further concerns regarding the objectives of the operation.

Some residents told UN investigators that Israeli officers informed them that there would no longer be any refugee camps and that they must all “go to Jordan.”