Human Rights Watch Accuses Israel of War Crimes for Mass Expulsions in West Bank Camps

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday that Israel’s removal of thousands of Palestinians from three refugee camps in the West Bank at the start of 2025 constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity. The organization called for immediate international action to hold Israeli authorities accountable and prevent further abuses.

HRW said that during “Operation Iron Wall” in January and February, Israeli forces forcibly displaced nearly 32,000 people from the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps. Its 105-page report, titled “You Erased All My Dreams,” states that residents have been prevented from returning and that hundreds of homes have been demolished.

Melina Ansari, an HRW researcher who worked on the report, told Reuters on Wednesday:
“Ten months after their expulsion, not a single family member has been able to return home.”
In a statement to Reuters, the Israeli military said civilian infrastructure had to be demolished to prevent militant activities, but gave no indication of when residents would be allowed to return.

“We are living a very harsh life”

Under the Geneva Conventions, the forced removal of civilians from occupied territory is prohibited except for temporary, imperative military reasons or to protect civilians. HRW said senior officials responsible for these decisions should be investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The report describes soldiers entering homes, damaging property, and using drones fitted with loudspeakers to order families to evacuate. Witnesses said bulldozers began razing buildings even as people fled, and that the Israeli military provided no shelter or assistance. Families took refuge in relatives’ homes, mosques, schools, and charities.

Hisham Abu Tabikh, expelled from the Jenin camp, said his family left with nothing.
Speaking to Reuters, he said:
“We are talking about having no food, no water, no medicine, no money… We are living a very harsh life.”

HRW interviewed 31 displaced Palestinians, analyzed satellite imagery, demolition orders, and verified videos. It found over 850 structures destroyed or severely damaged; a U.N. assessment put the number at 1,460 buildings. These camps, built in the 1950s for Palestinians displaced during Israel’s creation, housed several generations.

HRW said Israeli authorities claimed the operation targeted what they described as “terrorist elements,” but offered no justification for the mass expulsion or the ongoing ban on residents returning.

The group argued that the expulsions—carried out while global attention was focused on Gaza—fit into a broader pattern of apartheid and persecution, which it identifies as crimes against humanity.

Rising violence in the West Bank

The report notes that since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on southern Israel, the Israeli military has killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, expanded administrative detentions, accelerated settlement construction, and overseen a surge in settler violence and abuses.

Settlement-linked attacks spiked in October, with Israeli settlers carrying out at least 264 assaults—the highest monthly total since U.N. monitoring began in 2006.

Israel cites historical and biblical ties to the West Bank—territory it captured in the 1967 war—and argues that settlements provide strategic depth and security.

Most of the international community considers all settlements illegal under international law. Israel rejects this view, saying the West Bank is “disputed,” not “occupied.”

HRW urged governments to impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and commanders, suspend arms sales and trade benefits, ban settlement goods, and enforce International Criminal Court arrest warrants.

The group described the expulsions as “ethnic cleansing,” noting that although the term has no formal legal definition, it is commonly used to describe the unlawful removal of ethnic or religious populations from an area by another group.