DST News: Displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has surged to its highest level in decades as Israeli military operations and settler violence intensify, according to human rights organizations and UN agencies.
A new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says about 32,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes this year in the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps — the largest mass displacement in the West Bank since 1967. The group says residents remain barred from returning months after Israel’s raids began in January.
The UN also reported that more than 1,000 Palestinians in Area C and 500 in East Jerusalem were left homeless after Israeli demolitions, often justified by Israel as lacking building permits. Rights groups say such permits are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
Violence has risen sharply, with over 1,000 Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 2023 and settler attacks reaching record levels. In October alone, the UN recorded more than 260 settler incidents, the highest since monitoring began in 2006.
Senior Israeli officials have openly backed expanding settlements and annexing the West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he aims to make the territory an “integral part of the state of Israel”, including legalising outposts and pushing new settlement plans such as the E1 project, which would cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.
Israel says its actions, including demolitions and operations in refugee camps, are based on “security needs” and planning laws. Palestinians and rights organizations argue the measures amount to forced displacement intended to reshape the territory.
Source: Aljazeera
