Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Thursday, following the expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps in early 2025. HRW calls for urgent international measures to hold Israeli officials accountable and stop further abuses.
According to HRW, about 32,000 residents of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps faced forcible displacement by Israeli forces during “Operation Iron Wall” in January and February. The displaced have been barred from returning, and hundreds of homes were demolished. “Ten months after their displacement none of the family residents have been able to go back to their homes,” said Milena Ansari, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.
The Israeli military stated that it needed to demolish civilian infrastructure to prevent militants from exploiting it, but it did not specify when residents could return.
Legal and Humanitarian Concerns
The Geneva Conventions prohibit the displacement of civilians from occupied territory except for imperative military reasons or their security. HRW argues that senior officials responsible should be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report describes soldiers storming homes, ransacking property, and ordering families out via loudspeakers mounted on drones. Residents reported bulldozers razing buildings as they fled, with Israeli forces offering no shelter or aid, leaving families to crowd into relatives’ homes or seek refuge in mosques, schools, and charities.
Hisham Abu Tabeekh, expelled from Jenin refugee camp, shared his experience: “We are talking about having no food, no drink, no medicine, no expenses… we are living a very hard life.”
Report Findings and International Response
HRW interviewed 31 displaced Palestinians and analyzed satellite imagery, demolition orders, and verified videos. They found more than 850 structures destroyed or heavily damaged, while a UN assessment put the figure at 1,460 buildings. The camps, established in the 1950s for Palestinians displaced with Israel’s founding in 1948, had housed generations of refugees.
HRW urges governments to impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and commanders, calling for the suspension of arms sales and trade benefits, a ban on settlement goods, and enforcement of International Criminal Court warrants.
Since 7 October, 2023, Israeli forces have killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, expanding detention without trial, demolished homes, and accelerated settlement building, with settler violence and torture of detainees surging.
Settler violence surged in October, with Israeli settlers carrying out at least 264 attacks against Palestinians, in the biggest monthly total since UN officials began tracking such incidents in 2006.
Israeli Perspective and International Law
Israel cites historical and biblical ties to the West Bank, captured during a 1967 war, arguing that the settlements provide strategic depth and security. However, most of the global community considers all settlements illegal under international law, which Israel rejects, saying the West Bank “disputed” rather than “occupied” territory.
HRW characterizes the expulsions as ethnic cleansing, describing it as the unlawful removal of an ethnic or religious population from a specific area by another group.
