Israeli West Bank expulsions amount to war crimes: HRW
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HRW accuses "Israel" of war crimes for forcibly displacing 32,000 Palestinians in aggression on Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams.
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Israeli soldiers detain a man during a protest calling for the return of displaced Palestinians to their houses in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025 (AP)
"Israel’s" early-2025 expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch reported, urging immediate international action to hold Israeli officials accountable and prevent further abuses.
The rights group said Thursday that roughly 32,000 residents of the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces during “Operation Iron Wall” in January and February. Moreover, the expelled citizens were prevented from returning, and hundreds of homes were demolished in the process, according to HRW's 105-page report titled "All My Dreams Have Been Erased."
Melina Ansari, a Human Rights Watch researcher who worked on the report, told Reuters on Wednesday that “ten months after their displacement, none of the family residents have been able to go back to their homes.”
The Geneva Conventions bar the displacement of civilians from occupied territory except temporarily for what they describe as imperative military reasons or for their safety, and HRW said senior Israeli officials involved should face prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Displaced with nothing
The report details soldiers breaking into homes, ransacking belongings, and directing families to leave through drone-mounted loudspeakers, adding that residents recounted bulldozers flattening buildings as they escaped. Moreover, Israeli occupation forces provided no alternative shelters, pushing displaced families to squeeze into relatives’ houses or seek refuge in mosques, schools, and charitable institutions.
Hisham Abu Tabeekh, expelled from the Jenin refugee camp, said his family was unable to take anything with them when they were forced out. "We are talking about having no food, no drink, no medicine, no expenses... we are living a very hard life,” Tabeekh told Reuters.
Human Rights Watch said it interviewed 31 displaced Palestinians from the three camps and reviewed satellite imagery, demolition orders, and verified videos, finding more than 850 structures destroyed or severely damaged, while a UN assessment placed the total at 1,460 buildings.
West Bank violence on the rise
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, expanded administrative detention, carried out home demolitions, and sped up settlement construction, while settler violence and the torture of detainees have sharply increased, the report said.
Settler violence spiked in October, with Israeli settlers carrying out at least 264 attacks against Palestinians, the United Nations reported, marking the highest monthly total since UN officials began monitoring such incidents in 2006.
The majority of the international community considers all settlements illegal under international law.
HRW called on governments to impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and commanders, halt arms sales and trade benefits, ban settlement goods, and enforce International Criminal Court warrants, describing the expulsions as "ethnic cleansing".
