16/4/2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
On 13 April 2026, a group of women were allowed to return to the Jenin refugee camp for only two hours to visit the ruins of their homes, after having been displaced by Israeli occupation forces last year during the siege, the takeover of the camp, and its transformation into a military barracks that continues to this day.
Based on local and international media that documented the visit, Israeli soldiers marked the women’s hands with ink to divide them into different groups within the camp. According to testimonies from some of the women, these markings correspond to codes assigned by the Israeli army to the camp’s neighbourhoods after taking control of it.
According to testimonies from the women who were allowed to enter, they were subjected to degrading and complex procedures, including strip searches and violations of privacy. Soldiers conducted thorough inspections upon both entry and exit, and the women were forcibly made to remove their jackets or outer garments (such as jilbabs). In some cases, full strip searches were carried out, accompanied by close military escort inside the camp.
One woman (T.G.) stated: “We waited for long hours under repeated inspections, then we were handed over to female soldiers. The search was humiliating and painful, and I saw a woman being completely stripped in a scene that cannot be forgotten.”
She also indicated that they had to walk over piles of rubble from completely destroyed homes and collapsed walls, where houses had no doors or windows and balconies had fallen apart. She did not find her home as it once was, noting that she is currently living outside the camp in a rented house after four homes she owned with her children were destroyed.
In another testimony, the displaced woman (S.R.) said: “My home in Al-Hawashin was completely demolished, but I wanted to see it. I had to climb and jump to reach my sister-in-law’s house because the stairs were destroyed. I was only able to take some clothes and basic supplies such as olive oil and thyme. The soldiers prevented us from taking out certain items, such as gas cylinders.” Based on these testimonies, the Union for Justice affirms the brutal treatment faced by Palestinian women in the Jenin refugee camp at the hands of Israeli occupation forces. It considers these acts a shocking indication of the deep dehumanization of the Palestinian people and calls for an immediate investigation and serious follow-up by international institutions and human rights organizations to put an end to the recurrence of such practices against Palestinian women.
