05/11/2025 – Union for Justice Foundation
Jenin Refugee Camp is the second largest camp in the West Bank after Balata Camp. It was established in 1953 to the west of the city, overlooking the Marj Ibn Amer plain to the north, and bordering the village of Burqin to the south. The camp is surrounded by highlands.
Nearly nine months have passed since the start of the Israeli military operation known as the “Iron Wall” targeting the refugee camps in the northern West Bank—especially Jenin Camp. The operation continues to this day without any declared time frame, and one of its most devastating outcomes has been the displacement of around 18,000 residents from the camp and its surrounding neighborhoods. They were scattered across different areas within Jenin governorate and beyond, without being allowed to take any personal belongings or essential items. This catastrophe and mass displacement created an immense humanitarian crisis—one that even states and international institutions struggle to bear.
Through research and continuous follow-up with relevant authorities, the Union for Justice found that 3,100 families—the entire population of Jenin Camp—were forcibly displaced as a result of the Israeli assault. Additionally, around 100 families from neighborhoods bordering the camp were also displaced. Altogether, approximately 18,000 displaced individuals have been dispersed across 86 different locations, most of them in the city of Jenin.
According to these findings, the scale of displacement has reached a level unprecedented since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967. Roland Friedrich, Director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the West Bank, stated that roughly one-third of Palestinians living in the West Bank—around 900,000 people—are officially registered as refugees, after their families fled or were expelled during the 1948 war.
In January 2025, Israeli occupation forces began a large-scale deployment throughout Jenin city and its refugee camp. Troops, tanks, and armored bulldozers were positioned across the area, and extensive destruction of infrastructure, commercial shops, and public facilities began without any legitimate justification.
The assault soon expanded into Jenin Camp itself, from which all residents were expelled under armed threat and physical violence. In interviews conducted by the Union for Justice with several displaced residents, one of the displaced persons (A.A.) stated:
“In January 2025, Jenin Camp was invaded violently. Hundreds of soldiers stormed the camp. My children and I were forced out of our home at gunpoint. I was physically and verbally assaulted by the occupation soldiers as heavy gunfire filled the camp. Today, my children and I are displaced and living under extremely harsh humanitarian conditions.”
Another displaced resident (A.F.) recounted:
“During the most recent invasion, Israeli forces stormed the neighborhoods surrounding the camp, including the building where I live. At dawn, soldiers blew open the door in a brutal manner and forced us to leave at gunpoint, without allowing us to take any personal belongings. They turned our home into a military outpost. We have no information about its condition to this day.”
Many other harrowing testimonies have been shared by displaced families describing the circumstances under which they were forced from their homes, as well as the dire conditions they currently endure in displacement sites.
Since the complete evacuation of its population, Jenin Camp has been declared a closed military zone. It has been surrounded with iron gates and earth mounds, and Israeli demolition machinery has continued relentlessly—swallowing and destroying homes and infrastructure almost entirely.
The legal team at the Union for Justice concluded that the acts committed— and still being committed—by Israel constitute war crimes under Article 8(2)(a)(7) of the Rome Statute:
“Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of protected persons.”
They also violate Article 8(2)(b)(13):
“Destroying or seizing the enemy’s property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”
Furthermore, these actions amount to a crime against humanity under Article 7(1)(d) of the Rome Statute, which defines as such:
“Deportation or forcible transfer of population, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”
