GENEVA / WEST BANK – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by forcibly displacing some 32,000 Palestinians from three refugee camps in the West Bank, including Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem, during what the group describes as a coordinated military operation earlier in 2025.
In a damning 105-page report titled “All My Dreams Have Been Erased,” HRW documents how Israeli forces allegedly stormed homes, used drones to broadcast eviction orders, and destroyed or damaged more than 850 structures. The report argues that these actions violated international humanitarian law, especially provisions of the Geneva Conventions that require safe evacuation routes, adequate shelter, and the right to return — safeguards that HRW says Israel systematically ignored.
According to the report, entire families were forcibly removed without access to proper shelter. Many displaced people were left to take refuge in mosques, schools, or crowded charity buildings. Months after the evictions, HRW says, the displaced have not been allowed to go back, effectively barring them from returning to their homes.
HRW holds high-level Israeli officials responsible — naming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz, and Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth for possible criminal accountability. The watchdog stresses that the scale and systematic nature of the displacements point to a deliberate state-level policy rather than isolated incidents.
The report also warns of potential ethnic cleansing, arguing that the demographic restructuring of these camps — once dense civilian areas — into militarised zones could reflect broader policies of permanent erasure. HRW is calling on the international community to respond forcefully: it urges targeted sanctions, an immediate halt to arms sales, and formal investigations through international war crimes tribunals to ensure accountability.
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