West Bank witnessing largest forced displacement of Palestinians since 1967: UN
UN says 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly uprooted since January as Israeli forces clear refugee camps and demolish homes under ‘Iron Wall’ campaign
UN officials warned on 15 July that Israel’s months-long ‘Iron Wall’ operation in the occupied West Bank has caused the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1967, with 30,000 people forcibly uprooted since January and entire refugee camps emptied under military orders.
UN rights office spokesman Thameen al-Kheetan said the forced uprooting underway may constitute a crime under international law, stressing that “permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territory amounts to unlawful transfer,” and depending on the circumstances, “could be tantamount to ethnic cleansing.” He said the campaign is “emptying large parts of the West Bank of Palestinians.”
The UN said the offensive, launched in January, is impacting several northern refugee camps. Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UNRWA, described it as “the longest since … the Second Intifada,” and warned it was causing “the largest population displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967.”
According to Kheetan, most of those displaced were residents of the Jenin Refugee Camp.
During the same period, Israeli occupation forces issued demolition orders for approximately 1,400 homes in the area. Kheetan called the figures “alarming.”
Since 7 October 2023, 2,907 Palestinians have been displaced by demolitions, while 2,400 more – nearly half of them children – were forcibly uprooted by Israeli settlers.
The UN recorded 757 settler attacks in the first half of 2025, a 13 percent increase from the same period in 2024. Ninety-six Palestinians were injured in settler assaults in June, marking the highest monthly toll in over two decades.
Israeli forces have fired live ammunition at unarmed civilians, including those attempting to return to their homes in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nour Shams camps.
Victims include two-year-old Laila al-Khatib, shot in the head inside her home in Ash-Shuhada village in January, and 61-year-old Walid Bdeir, reportedly killed while cycling home from prayers on 3 July.
Since 7 October, at least 964 Palestinians have been killed across the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers.