West Bank forced transfer may be crime against humanity: UN

The United Nations rights office warned Friday that Israel's forced displacement of Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps could amount to the crime against humanity of forcible transfer.

The UN report said an Israeli operation launched in the north of the occupied West Bank in January 2025 forcibly displaced more than 33,000 people from the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps. It said 33,362 displaced Palestinian refugees from the three camps had not been permitted to return as of July.

The rights office said Israeli military, police and other forces entered the camps at the start of Operation Iron Wall, killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged infrastructure, cut water and electricity and barred humanitarian access before forcing residents to leave.

It said the use of airstrikes, armoured bulldozers and controlled detonations to make entire camps uninhabitable and prevent residents' return was not permissible under international law. The office said Israel's actions appeared to amount to collective punishment and raised concerns of ethnic cleansing.

Israel's mission in Geneva rejected the report, accusing the rights office of abandoning impartiality and spreading misinformation. It said the report neglected what it called the threat of terrorist attacks.

Israel announced on February 23, 2025 that its army had emptied the three camps. Defence Minister Israel Katz said at the time that he had instructed troops to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent residents' return and what he called the resurgence of terrorism.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Friday that the way the operation was conducted suggested an aim to expel as many Palestinians as possible and make way for more illegal Israeli settlements.

The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Violence there has surged since the Gaza war began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.