Gaza (TDI): The United Nations has raised alarm over a sharp surge in the displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, warning that current levels of forced removals are the highest since the territory first came under Israeli control nearly six decades ago.
According to UN agencies, Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the northern West Bank, launched in January and codenamed “Operation Iron Wall”, has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians, many from long-standing refugee camps. Officials fear the extent and scale of the evacuations could amount to ethnic cleansing under international law.
“This military operation is the longest we have seen in the West Bank since the Second Intifada,” said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), speaking to reporters from Amman. “It is triggering the largest displacement wave since 1967.”
The campaign has centered around key refugee camps and urban areas in the north, displacing an estimated 30,000 Palestinians since its launch, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Israeli forces have reportedly issued 1,400 demolition orders for Palestinian homes during the same period.
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UN human rights spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan described the situation as “alarming,” noting that a pattern of systematic demolitions, settler violence, and forced evictions has left large areas of the West Bank depopulated of Palestinians.
He added that since October 2023, Israeli authorities had demolished structures that led to the displacement of 2,907 Palestinians, while an additional 2,400 individuals, including a significant number of children, were forced from their homes due to settler violence.
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“The scale of displacement and destruction could constitute unlawful population transfer, which under certain circumstances may amount to ethnic cleansing,” said Al-Kheetan. “These actions could rise to the level of crimes against humanity.”
The UN also documented 757 settler attacks in the West Bank in the first half of 2025, a 13 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
