Nadim M., a pseudonym for a 60-year-old father of four, was forced to flee Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territory in January 2025 when Israeli military forces raided the camp and stormed his home. He told Human Rights Watch that Israeli soldiers restrained him with zip ties, searched his property, and then ordered him and his family to leave, warning them that if they turned to go to the left or to the right they would be targeted by Israeli snipers who were deployed in high places nearby. With no clear destination and no information about available shelters or humanitarian assistance, Nadim M. and his family found refuge in a local mosque that had opened its doors to displaced residents from the camp.

On January 21, just two days after a temporary ceasefire was announced between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, the Israeli military launched “Operation Iron Wall,” a large-scale operation in the West Bank that also involved Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, and Border Police. Senior officials claimed the operation targeted militants in refugee camps in the northern West Bank governorates of Jenin and Tulkarem.

The operation emptied the camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams of virtually all its residents, making it the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank in one operation since the 1967 war. Ten months later, the camps remain empty with approximately 32 000 residents displaced. Since then, the Israeli military has demolished 850 homes and other buildings across all three camps. Nadim M. and his family have not returned to their home and have been struggling to live elsewhere in the West Bank.

Report by the Human Rights Watch