Union for Justice: Occupation Evicts Hundreds of Families from Their Homes in the West Bank
June 20, 2025 – Union for Justice Organization
Despite the relative calm currently prevailing in the West Bank, the Israeli army continues to carry out large-scale daily raids on Palestinian cities, villages, towns, and refugee camps. These operations involve storming homes, conducting searches, and arresting residents.
These raids, often occurring in the early hours of dawn, are sometimes accompanied by the forced eviction of residents, leaving their homes open and relocating them elsewhere. This displacement can last from 72 hours up to a full week.
Once residents are removed, the Israeli army causes widespread destruction and vandalism in the homes. Citizens have reported the theft of their belongings, including money, jewelry, mobile phones, and computers, with occupying soldiers using personal items as they please.
In other instances (according to testimonies gathered by the Union for Justice), soldiers tear up photos of martyrs, destroy household contents, spoil food supplies—pouring liquids on the floor—and turn the homes into interrogation centers, detention facilities, and sites of physical assault and humiliation.
In recent days, the Israeli army has carried out several such operations. In the early hours of Wednesday, June 18, 2025, large forces raided the towns of Seida and Allar, north of Tulkarm. Dozens of homes were stormed, searched, and turned into military barracks after expelling their residents.
On the same day, occupation forces stormed Balata Refugee Camp east of Nablus, raided multiple homes, ransacked their contents, and forced around 14 families to evacuate their homes, which were then turned into military outposts and field detention and interrogation centers.
Over the past week, the occupation forces raided dozens of homes in the towns and villages of ‘Anin, Rummana, Nazlat Sheikh Zaid, Jaba’, and Meithalun in the Jenin district, turning them into military barracks after evicting their inhabitants.
In Jaba’, 35 families were forcibly displaced by Israeli soldiers, while in ‘Anin, 5 families—totaling around 50 people—were expelled from their homes. In Rummana, 11 houses were transformed into military posts after ejecting the owners.
In recent days, the Israeli army launched a wide-scale incursion into Meithalun, south of Jenin. The operation involved searching dozens of homes after dividing the town into sectors and marking searched houses with paint. The contents of these homes were tampered with as soldiers prepared to move to others. Four homes belonging to the Nairat family were seized, and their residents were forced out.
At dawn on Friday, June 20, 2025, occupation forces carried out a major raid on villages east of Tulkarm, including Bal’a, Attil, Anabta, and the Kafr Rumman neighborhood. Homes were stormed, doors broken down, and contents destroyed during searches.
After occupying these homes, residents were forced to evacuate under threat and were barred from returning for an entire week.
Thousands Displaced from Jenin and Tulkarm Camps
These Israeli home invasions and expulsions come at a time when hundreds of families displaced by the occupation from the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps remain homeless. Their homes were destroyed in what is considered the largest demolition operation in the West Bank since the beginning of the occupation in 1967.
According to the latest data from the Union for Justice, Israeli demolitions in the Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps have displaced more than 5,000 families—over 25,000 individuals. At least 400 homes were completely demolished, and 2,573 homes were partially damaged. The entrances to the camps remain blocked by barricades, turning them into nearly lifeless zones.
The media committee in Jenin Camp also reported that 21,000 residents have been displaced due to the ongoing Israeli assault since January, which included the partial or complete destruction of more than 650 homes and structures.
Examining the Motives
The Union for Justice believes that the security pretexts cited by the occupation authorities to justify these raids and forced evictions in the West Bank are neither accurate nor logical. The organization suggests that political, psychological, and economic objectives are being pursued by the occupation.
It continued: “The occupation seeks to consolidate its control over West Bank towns and cities, eliminate any political role of the Palestinian Authority, and erase distinctions between Areas A, B, and C. It also aims to instill fear and anxiety among Palestinians as part of a psychological warfare strategy.”
The organization noted that the deployment of massive military bulldozers, armored vehicles, and “Eitan” tanks through narrow Palestinian streets serves no purpose other than to terrorize and intimidate the population.
Additionally, Palestinians are incurring significant material losses due to the destruction of their homes’ contents and the looting or confiscation of hard-earned savings.
