UN raises ‘ethnic cleansing’ concerns over Israeli West Bank operation

Israel's military actions resulting in the displacement of entire Palestinian populations in three refugee camps in the occupied West Bank "appear to amount to collective punishment and raise concerns of ethnic cleansing", a United Nations Human Rights report has discovered.

Key points

• As of July, regarding 33, 362 displaced Palestinian refugees from these camps remained forcibly displaced, according to UNRWA.
• Displaced Palestinians documented being informed by Israeli officers that there would be no more refugee camps and that they should "all go to Jordan".
• At least 21 children were killed by Israeli forces during the military operation in the period covered by the report.

Israel's Operation Iron Wall in January and February 2025 killed 102 Palestinians and displaced more than 33, 000 residents from the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps, remarked the report, titled Destruction of Palestinian refugee camps in northern West Bank.

Such large-scale, long-term and systematic displacement of the Palestinian population could amount to a crime against humanity of forcible transfer, the report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) remarked on Friday.

It stressed that the employ of air strikes, armoured bulldozers and controlled detonations to render entire areas uninhabitable and prevent the return of residents, in the absence of imperative military necessity, is not permissible under international law.

"The way Operation Iron Wall has been conducted suggests its aim was to expel as many Palestinians as possible and to make way for more illegal Israeli settlements, in further violation of international law, " remarked UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

For context, the three camps are among a total of 19 in the West Bank that were established to shelter Palestinian refugees after the mass forced expulsion during the Nakba in 1948 and have been administered by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

At least 21 children were killed by Israeli forces during the military operation in the period covered by the report. Saddam Hussein Rajab, aged 10, was shot in the stomach in Tulkarem while waiting for his father to go to the mosque. In Jenin, a two-year-old girl was shot in the head by Israeli forces while having dinner with her mother and aunt.

For context, the report stressed that Israel "must end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as rapidly as possible" and "halt any efforts to forcibly displace more Palestinians".

Taken together, the developments around UN raises 'ethnic cleansing' concerns over Israeli West Bank operation point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.