MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), warned Al Jazeera in an interview that the Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank are “in serious threat of total destruction.” “We saw in the last few days that both the refugee camp in Jenin and the refugee camp in Tulkarem are under a serious threat of total destruction and yet again another expulsion of Palestinian people from there,” he told Al Jazeera, saying this has nothing with security.
“I’m also afraid that this has been done in purpose by the Israeli government in order to foil the ceasefire in Gaza — that’s the reason I’m so worried,” Cassif added, appealing to countries in the region to not “leave behind your brothers and sisters in Palestine.” “Don’t leave the Palestinians who’ve been butchered for more than one year by the Israeli government, that should have been stopped months ago,” he said.
Israeli occupation forces continue the aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp for the sixteenth consecutive day, killing 25 Palestinians, leaving dozens of injuries, detentions, house bombings, siege, forced displacement, and widespread destruction of infrastructure, February 5, 2025 (Photo: Mohammad Mansour/WAFA News Agency)
On 21 January, Israeli occupation forces launched an operation in Jenin involving ground forces, helicopter gunfire and airstrikes. The ongoing operation in Jenin city and its refugee camp has resulted in 25 fatalities, widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, and forced displacement. The operation expanded to nearby villages and towns and, since 27 January, extended to Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps. Jenin Municipality reports that nearly three kilometers of roads inside and near the camp have also been bulldozed by Israeli forces, including those leading to Jenin Hospital, causing damage to critical water and sewage infrastructure as well as telecommunication networks.
Operations in Jenin refugee camp over the past two months have caused widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure. Some 200 houses in Jenin camp have so far sustained severe damage, including about 120 houses during the ongoing operation by Israeli forces and 50 during the operation by Palestinian forces. Moreover, access to Jenin camp has been heavily restricted by both Palestinian and Israeli forces, exacerbating humanitarian conditions. UNRWA has been forced to suspend schools and health services. Solid waste collection and management efforts have been similarly suspended, leading to waste accumulation and worsening hygiene conditions in the camp.
According to UNRWA, nearly all of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced. More than 3,200 families have been displaced, UNRWA estimates, including 2,000 families displaced to Jenin city and surrounding villages during the Palestinian forces operation that began in early December. Nearly 2,600 families have sought shelter in Jenin city, with the remaining families scattered across 17 villages and towns in the governorate, mainly staying with relatives or renting temporary accommodation. At least 100 families have been sheltering in buildings belonging to charitable and other local institutions in Jenin city.
Between January 2023 and December 2024, Jenin governorate was among the areas most affected by displacement in the West Bank, recording the second-highest number of people displaced (1,500 people). Tulkarm governorate saw the highest level of displacement, with approximately 2,050 Palestinians displaced due to extensive destruction of homes caused by Israel forces’ operations. During the same period, more than 3,600 Palestinians, including over 1,400 children, were displaced across the West Bank due to home demolitions within the course of Israeli forces’ operations. As such, these operations have become a primary cause of displacement in the West Bank, accounting for 42 per cent of all displacement documented by OCHA between January 2023 and December 2024. This is a sharp increase compared to the two years prior (January 2021 to December 2022), when displacement during Israeli forces’ operations accounted for less than two per cent of total displacement.
