Smoke rises over buildings in the Jenin refugee camp during an Israeli assault on Feb 2, 2025

Lubna Masarwa and Heba Nasser – Middle East Eye Feb 5, 2025

The Israeli military has displaced 26,000 Palestinians from their homes in Jenin and Tulkarm since launching its major assault on the occupied West Bank last month.

Farha Abu al-Haija, a member of the Popular Committee in Jenin Camp, said 17,000 people have been forcibly expelled from the Jenin camp, home to over 24,000 registered Palestinian refugees.

For the past two weeks, the Israeli army has besieged, invaded and bombed the camp and its surroundings.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has said that large parts of the camp have been completely levelled in a series of detonations, estimating that at least 100 houses have been destroyed or heavily damaged.

On Sunday, Israeli forces simultaneously blew up nearly 20 buildings on the eastern side of the camp after rigging them with explosives, the Palestinian state news agency reported.

Israeli forces have prevented movement inside and residents have been forced to flee under shelling and explosions.

Abu al-Haija said the Israeli army has also expelled families living in the vicinity of the camp, where they also blew up a building composed of 20 flats, leaving 200 residents homeless.

The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces have killed at least 70 people in the West Bank since the start of the year.

Abu al-Haija told Middle East Eye that displaced residents have fled the violence to different places in Jenin and its countryside, which have also been affected by the military campaign.

Palestinian families are now hosting up to 20 displaced people in their homes amid a lack of basic amenities such as electricity and water.

“Both the displaced families and the families who are receiving them are financially strapped. Prior to the Israeli military campaign, the camp was besieged by the Palestinian security services for 48 days. People have been without work for three months and have been unable to secure their basic daily needs, including food,” Abu al-Haija said.

Weeks before the Israeli operation, the Palestinian Authority launched a large-scale security campaign in Jenin that involved besieging the city, shooting at unarmed civilians and clashing with local fighters.

Abu al-Haija, who also works with an organisation that provides psychological support to women and children, said that due to the Israeli siege, no one knows the full extent of what is happening inside the camp or the damage being caused.

Jenin’s residents, who have endured repeated military raids for the past two years, said the violence and intensity of the current assault exceeded even the notorious invasion of the camp during the Second Intifada in 2002.

“The families in Jenin are in shock by the magnitude of the raid. It is similar to what happened in Gaza, only this time it’s an area of ​​just one square kilometre,” said Abu al-Haija.

Living in constant fear

The ongoing incursion has been particularly devastating for children, who have been unable to attend school since early December.

Unrwa spokeswoman Juliette Touma stated that 13 Unrwa schools in the camp and surrounding areas have been closed, affecting around 5,000 children.

Abu al-Haija reported that children are suffering from heightened stress, anxiety and fear, with many struggling to sleep. Some have developed conditions, which include involuntary urination and episodes of hysterical screaming.

Samah Hawasheen, a resident of the camp, said her seven-year-old daughter had been particularly affected.

Hawasheen said she and her husband and three children had fled their home during the PA’s security operation in the camp.

The family had tried to return to their home in the Al-Hawashin neighbourhood but there was no water or electricity and no one responded to their requests for help.

“I spent years building my house, but the amount of bullets that penetrated its walls and furniture is indescribable. I found some bullets in my children’s beds. If we’d stayed they would have been killed immediately,” Hawasheen said.

However, her daughter continues to experience overwhelming fear that has been difficult to alleviate.

“My daughter covers her ears whenever she hears the sound of bullets. I try to comfort her, but nothing helps,” said Hawasheen, fighting back tears.

“I feel heartbroken for my children because they aren’t experiencing their childhood. When we were displaced, I couldn’t believe the sight of them playing outside.”

Abu al-Haija also highlighted another worrying psychological effect the military campaign has had on children: a bleak outlook on their future.

Many, when asked what they thought they would become when they grow up, responded, “A martyr or a prisoner.”

“The residents of Jenin are cramped in small apartments, and their children cannot go outside to play for fear of snipers. Now, our only wish is for them to be able to play in the sun,” she said.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 10 children, including a two-year-old girl, have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank this year.

Tulkarm: Infrastructure destroyed

In parallel with its military operation in Jenin, the Israeli army is also conducting an incursion in the Tulkarm refugee camp, which has so far displaced at least 9,000 Palestinians from their homes.

Displaced residents have sought shelter in halls, clubs and centres in the city of Tulkarm, or in the homes of their relatives.

Suhail Salman, an activist and political figure in Tulkarm, said the Israeli army has been deliberately targeting the fabric of daily life in the camps by destroying civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, cutting off basic services like water and electricity.

Salman emphasised that this tactic aims to attack the right of return for Palestinian refugees, a central issue that has long been a barrier in negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

“The evidence for this is that the genocide in Gaza, the assault on the camps in the West Bank and the attack on Unrwa are all happening simultaneously with the goal of evacuating the camps and creating an uninhabitable environment for the population by halting any development of life within them,” Salman told MEE.

Two Israeli laws went into effect last week that ban Unrwa’s operations in Israel and in “areas under Israeli sovereignty,” as well as prohibiting any contact with the agency. This move has been supported by former US President Donald Trump.

The UN agency, which has been operating without US funding for almost a year, provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories, as well as the millions of Palestinians living in refugee camps in the neighbouring countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

“The spearhead of this attack on Unrwa is the Americans, and we heard Trump’s latest statements about the displacement of the people of Gaza to Egypt and the people of the West Bank to Jordan. So the process of displacement is ongoing,” Salman said.

Salman believes that the destruction, bombing and sabotage campaign in the West Bank is designed to force camp residents to leave.

The activist stressed the need for Palestinians to put their internal affairs in order and agree on a political programme that would counter Israel’s plans.

“When the Israeli army blew up 20 buildings in the Jenin camp, it was filmed and broadcast on satellite channels. This is a blatant challenge to the whole world and the human rights system,” he said.

“It is clear that the world is reformulating itself so that Israel has the upper hand in the region.”

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