The report, titled "Destruction of Palestinian Refugee Camps in the Northern West Bank," stated that the Israeli army, Israeli police, and other forces deployed as part of the ongoing Operation "Iron Wall" killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and other infrastructure, cut off water and electricity, prevented humanitarian support from reaching the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm refugee camps, and moved from house to house to force residents to leave.
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By October 2025, 52% of the buildings in the Jenin refugee camp, 48% in the Nur Shams camp, and 36% in the Tulkarm camp had been destroyed or damaged as a result of the Israeli operation.
These three camps are among 19 camps in the West Bank established to shelter Palestinian refugees following the mass forced displacement during the Nakba in 1948, and are administered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
"A few days after the start of Operation 'Iron Wall', Israeli security forces consolidated their control over the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm refugee camps, and forcibly displaced their entire populations," says the report, which is based on independent monitoring and documentation conducted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Some displaced Palestinians told the OHCHR that Israeli officers informed them that there would be no more refugee camps and that they "should all go to Jordan."
The report emphasized that the widespread, long-term, and systematic displacement of more than 33,000 Palestinians from refugee camps during Israel's Operation "Iron Wall" raises serious concerns regarding the crime against humanity of forcible transfer. Furthermore, the use of airstrikes, armored bulldozers, and controlled demolitions to render entire camps uninhabitable, forcing their residents into displacement and preventing their return in the absence of military necessity, is impermissible under international law, appears to amount to collective punishment, and raises concerns regarding ethnic cleansing.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said: "The manner in which Operation 'Iron Wall' was carried out indicates that its goal was to displace as many Palestinians as possible and make room for further illegal Israeli settlements, in further violation of international law."
He added: "Israel must end its 59-year occupation of Palestinian territory, and cease any efforts aimed at forcibly displacing more Palestinians and further undermining the geographic contiguity of a future Palestinian state. It must also take steps to comply with its obligations under international law, as articulated in the explicit conclusion of the International Court of Justice—more than two years ago—that it must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible."
During the period covered by the report, Israeli forces killed 102 Palestinians, including 21 children, during the operation, accounting for 46% of total killings by Israeli forces in the West Bank during that period.
Israeli forces also conducted airstrikes and used combat drones and shoulder-fired explosive projectiles—all weapons designed for warfare rather than law enforcement operations—resulting in the killing and injuring of numerous unarmed individuals who apparently posed no threat to them.
On February 23, 2025, the Israeli Defense Minister ordered the Israeli army to remain in the three camps and stated that the Palestinians displaced from them would not be allowed to return.
According to UNRWA, approximately 33,362 Palestinian refugees from these camps remained forcibly displaced as of July this year.
