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

More than 33,000 Palestinian refugees remain displaced since Israel launched Operation Iron Wall.

Israel’s Operation Iron Wall displaced Palestinian residents from the Jenin refugee camp [File: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP]

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 found.

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, said the report, titled Destruction of Palestinian refugee camps in northern West Bank.

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Displaced Palestinians reported being told by Israeli officers that there would be no more refugee camps and that they should “all go to Jordan”.

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) said on Friday.

It stressed that the use 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,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

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).

As of July, about 33,362 displaced Palestinian refugees from these camps remained forcibly displaced, according to 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.

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”.

自以色列发起“铁墙行动”以来，仍有超过33000名巴勒斯坦难民流离失所。

以色列的“铁墙行动”导致杰宁难民营的巴勒斯坦居民流离失所。[图片：Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP]

联合国人权报告指出，以色列的军事行动导致被占领的西岸三个难民营中的巴勒斯坦居民全部流离失所，“这似乎构成集体惩罚，并引发了人们对种族清洗的担忧”。

这份题为《摧毁约旦河西岸北部巴勒斯坦难民营》的报告称，以色列在2025年1月和2月发动的“铁墙行动”造成102名巴勒斯坦人死亡，并导致超过33000名居民从杰宁、努尔沙姆斯和图勒凯尔姆难民营流离失所。

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流离失所的巴勒斯坦人报告说，以色列官员告诉他们，不会再有难民营了，他们应该“都去约旦”。

联合国人权事务高级专员办事处（人权高专办）周五发布的报告称，如此大规模、长期和系统性地驱逐巴勒斯坦人口可能构成强迫迁移的反人类罪。

它强调，在没有迫切军事需要的情况下，使用空袭、装甲推土机和控制爆破使整个地区不适宜居住并阻止居民返回，是国际法所不允许的。

联合国人权事务高级专员沃尔克·图尔克表示：“‘铁墙行动’的实施方式表明，其目的是驱逐尽可能多的巴勒斯坦人，并为更多以色列非法定居点腾出空间，这进一步违反了国际法。”

这三个难民营是西岸 19 个难民营中的三个，这些难民营是在 1948 年灾难日（Nakba）期间大规模强迫驱逐巴勒斯坦难民后建立的，由联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处（近东救济工程处）管理。

据联合国近东救济工程处称，截至7月，这些难民营中约有33362名巴勒斯坦难民仍然被迫流离失所。

报告涵盖的这段时期内，至少有21名儿童在以色列军队的军事行动中丧生。10岁的萨达姆·侯赛因·拉贾卜在图勒凯尔姆等候父亲去清真寺时，腹部中弹身亡。在杰宁，一名两岁女童与母亲和姑姑共进晚餐时，头部中弹身亡。

报告强调，以色列“必须尽快结束其在被占领的巴勒斯坦领土上的非法存在”，并“停止任何强迫更多巴勒斯坦人流离失所的企图”。