The organization stated that Israeli forces forcibly displaced approximately 32,000 Palestinians from the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps during what it called "Operation Iron Wall" in January and February, preventing them from returning to their homes, while hundreds of homes were demolished, according to a report entitled "All My Dreams Were Erase".
"Ten months after their displacement, none of the families have been able to return to their homes," researcher Milena Ansari told Reuters.
In a brief response, the Israeli military told Reuters on Wednesday that it "needs to demolish civilian infrastructure so that it cannot be exploited by militants." It did not specify when residents could eturn.
Forced displacement and testimonies of harsh conditions
The report stated that displaced people spoke of soldiers storming their homes, looting their belongings, and issuing evacuation orders via loudspeakers mounted on drones, while Israeli bulldozers demolished buildings as residents fled, without providing any shelter or urgent assistance, forcing families to take refuge in the homes of relatives or in mosques, schools, and charitable institutions.
Hisham Abu Tabikh, who was expelled from Jenin camp, said his family left without being able to take any of their belongings, adding: "No food, no drink, no medicine, no money… We are living a very difficult life."
The organization explained that it interviewed 31 displaced people from the three camps and analyzed satellite images, demolition orders and documented footage, and concluded that more than 850 buildings were destroyed or damaged, while a UN assessment estimated their number at about 1,460 buildings.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit the forced displacement of civilians from occupied territory, except temporarily for imperative military reasons or for their own security. Human Rights Watch stated that senior officials should be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It also noted that Israel justified the operation by targeting "terrorist elements," but offered no legal justification for the mass expulsion or the prevention of return.
Human Rights Watch noted that Israeli officials wrote that the operation targeted those they called terrorist elements, but they did not give any reason for the mass deportation or the ban on return.
The organization stated that the expulsions, which took place while the world's focus was on Gaza, "constitute part of crimes against humanity in the form of apartheid and persecution," and urged governments to impose sanctions on Israeli leaders, suspend arms exports, halt trade privileges, ban settlement products, and enforce arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.
The report described the expulsions as "ethnic cleansing," a term the organization said is used to denote the unlawful removal of an ethnic or religious group from a particular area.
The West Bank is witnessing a widespread escalation in attacks coinciding with the war of extermination on Gaza, as attacks by the army and settlers have resulted in the martyrdom of at least 1,076 Palestinians and the injury of about 10,760 others, in addition to the arrest of more than 20,500 citizens since the start of the war, according to data from the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
According to the commission, during the two years of genocide, Israel carried out 1,014 demolition operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem, affecting 3,679 structures, including 1,288 inhabited homes and 244 uninhabited homes. It also distributed 1,667 demolition notices to Palestinian homes and structures.
The Israeli genocide, which began on October 7, 2023 and lasted for two years, ended with a ceasefire agreement, after leaving more than 69,000 martyrs and more than 170,000 wounded, most of them women and children, while the United Nations estimated the cost of reconstruction at about $70 billion.
