Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Nov. 20 in a report documenting the forced displacement of approximately 32,000 Palestinians from three refugee camps beginning in January 2025. The report charges that Israeli forces carried out mass forcible displacements as part of a widespread attack on civilians, accusations that, if substantiated, would constitute crimes against humanity under international law.
“The organized, forced displacement of Palestinians in the refugee camps has removed nearly the entire Palestinian population from these areas,” the report stated, noting that residents of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps have been denied the right to return nearly a year after the operations commenced.
The refugee camps in the West Bank were established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes. Those who fled or were expelled from areas that became part of the State of Israel were housed in UN-administered camps in neighboring territories, including the West Bank and Gaza. Originally intended as temporary solutions in the absence of a mutually acceptable solution to the Israel-Palestine land disputes, the camps have persisted for over 75 years, and have become densely populated residential areas.
Israeli forces used heavy weaponry to empty the camps, giving residents abrupt orders to leave during active military operations earlier this year, HRW reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) maintained that the operations targeted “terrorists” and were mandated by security imperatives. In an October response to Human Rights Watch, the military stated:
The operation was based on the understanding that terrorists exploit the terrain and the densely built environment of the camps, which restricts the IDF’s freedom of action. And that Hamas plants explosive devices in houses, civilian infrastructure, and along traffic routes in order to detonate them, thus endangering the lives of security forces and local residents.
According to HRW, the Israeli military’s response left a number of gaps:
The Israeli military did not explain why the displacement of the entire population of all three camps was necessary to achieve its aims, nor whether alternatives had been considered. Rather, it stated that the “IDF has had to operate for an extended period of time, as required by operational needs and the circumstances on the ground.” The response did not answer Human Rights Watch’s questions about whether Israeli authorities had attempted to provide food, shelter, and access to medical services for the civilian population it had displaced, as required under international humanitarian law.
International humanitarian law prohibits forcible displacement of civilians in occupied territories except in specific, limited circumstances with safeguards. Human Rights Watch found Israeli forces failed to meet these requirements, including providing safe evacuation routes or humanitarian assistance to displaced residents.
The organization called for investigations by the International Criminal Court and state authorities under universal jurisdiction, and recommended targeted sanctions against Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and military commanders.
The matter may add to the cases already under investigation by the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders in November 2024 on charges stemming from the broader conflict.
From JURIST, Nov. 20. Used with permission.
See our report on Operation “Iron Wall,” and the genocide accusations against Israel.
Photo: Wikipedia
Israel plans to seize historical site in the West Bank
An Israeli order released Nov. 12 lists parcels of land it intends to seize in the Sebastia area. Peace Now, which provided the document to AP, said the popular archeological site, where thousands of olive trees grow, belongs to the Palestinians.
The capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom Samaria is thought to be beneath the ruins of Sebastia, and Christians and Muslims believe it’s where John the Baptist was buried.
Israel announced plans to develop the site into a tourist attraction in 2023. Excavations have already begun and the government has allocated $9.24 million to develop the site, according to Peace Now and other rights groups. the site is around 450 acres — Israel’s largest seizure of archaeologically important land.
The order gives Palestinians 14 days to object to the declaration.
Israel steps up eviction campaign in the West Bank
Israeli troops have been conducting house-to-house raids in the northern West Bank, sealing off the area surrounding the town of Tubas with bulldozed piles of earth, forcing dozens of families out of their homes and limiting the movement of ambulances. Israel says it has launched a large-scale campaign to prevent “terrorist activity” in the area.
Israel’s forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since massively ramping up military operations there after the events of October 2023. The West Bank death toll now includes what appears to be the execution by Israeli forces of two Palestinian men who had already surrendered, captured on video Nov. 27 in Jenin.
Some believe the real intention of the latest move is to confiscate more Palestinian land for settlement expansion in the West Bank. (TNH)
Israeli army launches major new operation in Hebron
The Israeli army announced that it has launched an operation in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, saying the attacks are expected to last several days.
In a statement, the army said the operation is concentrated in the Jabal Johar area of Hebron, adding that Israeli military activity in the region is expected to increase during the operation.
Local witnesses said Israeli forces sealed off the southern part of Hebron, erected iron barriers at the city’s entrances, and deployed large numbers of soldiers and armored vehicles.
According to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, Israeli forces detained seven Palestinians after raiding their homes following the start of the operation, conducting searches and confiscating property. (MEM)
Israel taking more steps to assert control over West Bank lands
On Feb. 8, the Israeli security cabinet agreed on new policies for the occupied West Bank that would make it easier for Jewish settlers to acquire Palestinian land. Laws dating back to Jordanian administration before 1967, which Israel agreed to honor in the Oslo accords, are to be unilaterally repealed. The laws resricted Arab-owned lands to Jews. Because the change will apply even to areas under Palestinian Authority, it intrinsically undermines the developing Palestinian sovereignty.
Critics say the moves amount to de facto annexation of large parts of the Israeli-occupied territory. US President Donald Trump has said that Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory is not acceptable. The United Nations, along with a host of Arab and Muslim-majority states, responded with sharp criticism of the new Israeli policy. (PRI, NYT)
UN chief protests Israel’s new measures on West Bank
UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres warned Feb. 9 that Israel’s new measures in the Occupied West Bank violate international law. Guterres urged Israel to halt these measures and commit to the negotiated two-state solution, as the “only path to lasting peace.” His calls were echoed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk.
The Israeli cabinet approved a package of measures for the West Bank on Feb. 8. The measures include repealing limits on Israeli settlers acquiring lands in the West Bank. They also include the Israeli military taking over regulatory powers for licensing and construction from the Palestinian authorities in Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs. The cabinet also empowered Israeli agencies to demolish Palestinian structures on the grounds of potential environmental hazards and protection of heritage and archaeology.
WAFA news agency, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, reported on subsequent Israeli operations in the Palestinian areas. The reports included the demolitionof buildings in East Jerusalem, forcible removal of villagers in Deir al-Dik from their homes, denial of entry to Hebron for Palestinian residents, and deployment of tear gas in Hebron residential areas.
The measures are said to violate the 1995 Oslo II Accord, which divides the West Bank into three areas, with Area A and B administered by the Palestinian Authority, and Area C by Israel. While Palestine enjoys administrative authority in Area B, Israel shares security control with Palestine in this area. However, the new Israeli measures extended its administrative authority to Area A and B.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both justified the decision, saying that it would “remove decades-old barriers, repeal discriminatory Jordanian legislation, and enable accelerated development of settlement on the ground.” The measures however, drew widespread criticism from the international community. A joint statement from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 9 accused Israel of “imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty…thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people.” Canada and the EU also called on Israel to halt the measures and recommit to the two-state solution. (Jurist)
Israel moves closer to West Bank annexation
The new set of measures approved by Israel’s security cabinet consolidating control over the occupied West Bank are being openly celebrated as a step toward annexation. Energy Minister Eli Cohen said the move would establish “de facto sovereignty” and “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, said the move would make it easier for Jewish settlers to force Palestinians off their land and to “continue to bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”
Adoption of the measures has drawn international condemnation. Already this year, almost 700 Palestinians in different parts of the West Bank have been forced off their lands by attacks from Israeli settlers. Israeli authorities have also been issuing demolition orders and evicting people from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem. (TNH)
First Palestinian killed on West Bank in 2026
A Palestinian man was shot dead and four others were wounded by armed settlers who stole dozens of livestock while accompanied by troops of the Israel Defense Forces in the central West Bank’s Mukhmas village on Feb. 18, the Palestinian Authority said. Mourners held a funeral the next day for Nasrallah Abu Siam, 19.
Israel’s military says its soldiers had stepped in to disperse a riot. Human rights groups say Abu Siam was the first Palestinian killed by settlers this year. The UNÂ estimates 240 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in 2025. (ToI, PBS)