Israel expands demolitions of West Bank refugee homes

At night, the Israeli army entered the Genin Refugee Camp at the occupied West Bank and ordered 20,000 Palestinians to leave the house, 66 -year -old Zaywayda would refuse.

“All of our families have left, but I want to be there to prevent damage when the Israeli army comes to attack my house.”

There was a three -day fear, and the constant sound of shooting, explosion and drones flew through the neighbors, and Summa issued an unprecedented order in noise. Then water and electricity were blocked, his phone was lacking in battery, and Jumaa felt that he could no longer stay.

Three months later, JUMAA stands on the hills of Jenin City and looks at the ghost village of the refugee camp, and he and other residents are still not returned by the Israeli army.

He is trying to see if his house is one of the many houses destroyed by the Israeli army during the operation of the Palestinian armed group in the camp. Continuous explosions can be heard below.

Jumaa said, “Some people thought that our building was demolished, but we are not sure.

The nine fathers who worked in the construction stayed for three months at the school rotation for the victims of the camp. He has now moved to accommodations for college students who share with his brothers.

Before the Gaza War began in October 2023, Israel had already participated in a military campaign for Westbank’s armed groups.

Following the creation of the Israeli state in 1948, many groups emerged in a dense urban refugee camp created for the Palestinians who fled during the war, escaped from home.

The main groups of the Jenin Camp are related to Palestine Islamic Jimad and Hamas. Most of their fighters attacked most of the Israeli troops with sporadic attacks on Westbank’s Israeli settlers.

The number of fighters is unknown, but local journalists estimate that there are about 150 fighters in the Genin Camp before the recent operations of Israel and Palestinian authorities.

The Palestinian authorities, which dominated part of Westbank, began their own crackdowns at the Genin Camp in December 2024 and withdrew only when the Israeli army began its main operations in January.

The Secretary of Defense Israel called the camp a “nest of terrorism,” and in January, the campaign for the armed groups inside, and the tens of thousands of Palestinians in the northern Westbank blocked and blocked numerous refugee camps in the home.

It ordered the residents to leave and began the wave of the demolition of the building, and gave some people a chance to collect their belongings.

However, because Israel almost completely blocked the approach to the camp and did not openly announce the buildings they destroyed, many Palestinians were confused about whether they had a home to return.

UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said Israel’s best estimation is that at least 260 buildings, including about 800 apartments during “Operation Iron Wall”, are focused on three refugee camps north of Westbank, that is, Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams. The UNRWA estimates that 42,000 Palestinians have moved to the camp since January.

In February, the Israeli troops announced that they died of 60 fighters and arrested 280 other soldiers. Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said 100 people have died in Westbank since the beginning of Israel in January.

Defense Secretary of State Israel said that the army was destroying weapons and infrastructure “on a broad scale.”

The Israeli army said in the BBC, the militia used civilians as a human shield, planting explosive devices, hiding weapons, and being extinct. ”

On May 1, Israel gave Westbank a new map of 106 buildings to Palestinian officials in Westbank. It said it would be demolished by Tulcarem and Nur Shams refugee camps for the next 24 hours. Residents said they can apply for a simple window that can return home to recover the essential belongings.

The original agency said that the Palestinians had the greatest forced displacement in Westbank for decades with the campaign of Israel.

Roland Friedrich, the Westbank director of UNRWA, said, “There is no unprecedented thing.”

“From the point of view of the number and destruction of the displaced people, we have never seen such things since 1967,” he added, referring to the year when Israel began the occupation of Westbank’s military.

The BBC filmed an interview with Mayor Jenin and detained the Palestinians, including local government workers, who were trying to enter the camp to organize their way to nearby hospitals. They were stored for three hours before being released.

Mohammad Jarrar said, “There is a great difficulty in providing services to citizens, as everyone knows, the infrastructure of the Jenin Camp has been completely demolished.

“Israel’s goal is to make Genin Camp entirely inadequate to live completely, and I say it’s completely meaningless.”

Israel’s Westbank refugee camp established information about what happens from the almost impossible interior, UNRWA’s Roland Friedrich said, including the exact range of demolition.

JUMAA is part of the Palestinian Palestinians who have been shortly visited by the Israeli army to recover their belongings. He was able to catch UN ID cards and family dogs. Two months later, in March, Israel announced more than 90 buildings that were identified as demolition in Genin. Zuma’s residence seemed to be one of them.

The Israeli troops told the BBC that they had to demolish these buildings to improve “freedom of sports.” However, it was not confirmed whether Zuma’s house was actually destroyed.

The BBC compared Israel’s March demolition map with Jenin’s satellite image, which was taken a week later. We could confirm that at least 33 buildings were destroyed, including JUMAA ‘S by March 27. The satellite image shows that many further demolitions have occurred, including the construction of the new roads of Israeli troops, which had previously established the building since January.

Zuma said, “Why did you demolish my house? I want to know, I want the Israeli army to justify me, I was not associated with armed forces.

“I worked at work for 50 years to build a house.”

Despite the fact that his house was demolished, Jumaa claims to return home.

“I won’t leave the camp. If they can’t rebuild my house, I will set up a tent there,” he said.

“Isn’t it enough for my family to be kicked out in 1948? Now should we face the displacement again?”

Additional report of Lina Shaikhouni and Daniele Palumbo.