Eliminating the Palestinian refugee identity

As Israel’s forces intensify their assault on the occupied West Bank, concerns are mounting over its broader objectives, further territorial expansion, forced displacement of Palestinians, and the gradual annexation of the occupied land.

Israel has killed more than 64 Palestinians, arrested at least 365, displaced hundreds of thousands and destroyed scores of homes and properties in the occupied West Bank since it launched its operation, the “Iron Wall,” on January 21, just days after a ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip.

For the first time in more than 20 years Israel deployed tanks in the West Bank and Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the army will remain in some refugee camps “for the next year.”

Since the start of the operation by the Israeli forces on January 21, several refugee camps have been nearly emptied of their residentsand over 5,000 Palestinian families have been displaced by the ongoing Israeli attacks in the West Bank according to the Palestinian government.

Starting in Jenin Camp, the operation has expanded to Tulkarm, Nur Shams, and El Far’a refugee camps and led to the displacement of more than 40,000 Palestine refugees. 

As well, the occupation forces stormed several towns, including Idhna, Al-Shuyukh, and Beit Awa in Hebron, as well as the Al-Disha and Aida camps in Bethlehem, the Al-Mughayyir and Birzeit towns in Ramallah.

Israeli troops also raided the Amari camp in Al-Bireh and the Airport Street area in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, located north of Jerusalem. 

As the operation is spreading across most West Bank cities and refugee camps, analysts say that Israel’s long-standing aim to annex the occupied Palestinian territory is now more evident than ever and that it plans to annex the West Bank, squeeze the Palestinians into the smallest areas possible, particularly to expel them from Area C,referring to the division that makes up some 60 per cent of the Palestinian territory.

The use of air strikes, armored bulldozers, controlled detonations, and advanced weaponry by the Israeli forces has become commonplace, a spillover of the war in Gaza.

Such militarised approaches are inconsistent with the law enforcement context of the occupied West Bank, where there have been at least 38 airstrikes in 2025 alone. 

Jenin Camp stands empty today, evoking memories of the second intifada and this scene stands to be repeated in other camps. 

On the other hand, as the Israeli operation escalates, illegal settlers push further into Palestinian territories as 

Area C -over 60 per cent of the West Bank- is basically what the Israeli settler movement and the Israeli state view as ultimately theirs. 

Besides, they are creeping into Area B, which constitutes approximately 22 per cent of the West Bank. 

The illegal settlers are backed by the Israeli state, which provides them with military, economic, and political support across the political spectrum, not just from right-wing factions.

Since the start of the onslaught against the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 927 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In January, the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now warned that Israeli authorities were planning to approve the construction of 2,749 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank.

The group said 2025 could see “record numbers” of settlement expansions, an average of 1,800 units per month.

On its part, the International Court of Justice declared in July that Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is “unlawful,” demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times and that collective punishment is never acceptable.

However, under the Knesset laws implemented on January 30, UNRWA no longer has any contact with the Israeli authorities, making it impossible to raise concerns about civilian suffering or the urgent need for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. 

UNRWA, the main agency providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the refugee camps, has been banned by Israel to operate in East Jerusalem and now in the West Bank which is having a huge impact on the well-being of people, and on the economic situation.

This puts at grave risk the lives of Palestine Refugees and the UNRWA staff that serve them.

 Israel has long tried to eliminate the UN agency, which enshrines the right of Palestinian refugees to return home.

Israel’s aggressive assault on the refugee camps and the UNRWA, aligns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal “to end the concept of a Palestinian refugee”.

Moreover, the ongoing West Bank operation is seen as part of Israel’s plan to establish an exclusively Jewish state and recent reports surface that Israel is preparing to set up a military base in the Jenin camp, a part of its strategy to eliminate the refugee identity. 

All of Israel’s actions and policies throughout the last several decades have been geared toward the ultimate goal of creating a Greater Israel across all of historic Palestine.

Najla M. Shahwan is a Palestinian author, researcher and freelance journalist. Author of thirteen books in literature and a children story collection. Chairwoman of the Palestinian Center for Children’s Literature (PCCL). Founder of Jana Woman Cultural Magazine. Recipient of two prizes from the Palestinian Union of Writers.