The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says more than 33,000 people were forced from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in a military operation in early 2025, leaving many without steady income, shelter or access to basic services.
Roland Friedrich, director of West Bank affairs for UNRWA, told Al Jazeera that satellite imagery shows 20 percent of buildings in the three camps were destroyed and another 28 percent damaged. He said the scale of destruction was “severe and unprecedented” and that this episode is the largest single forced displacement in the West Bank since 1967.
UNRWA figures reported by Al Jazeera show 85 percent of those displaced have no regular income after losing jobs when the camps were emptied, and more than 80 percent now rent accommodation, an expense most families did not previously face inside the camps.
The agency said a closed military zone covering the camps is renewed every two months, preventing returns. Friedrich said the UN’s position is that “people have to be allowed to return. The camps must be rebuilt.” He also warned of rising gender-based violence linked to economic strain and growing mental health problems among displaced children observed by UNRWA psychosocial teams. “We’re already at the brink now,” he said.
The Israeli military told Al Jazeera the camps were emptied for “operational security” in an effort to remove fighters, according to the report.
Funding shortages have hampered UNRWA’s response, the agency said. Al Jazeera reported UNRWA has shifted to a targeted approach because available funds are insufficient to meet the needs of all displaced families, forcing it to prioritise some operations while leaving thousands without support.
Al Jazeera followed the plight of Hakim Mar’i, a displaced man living in a cramped apartment in Tulkarem. Mar’i, whose lower leg is badly infected and swollen, said he cannot work and cannot afford treatment. “This joint here is completely gone,” he told the outlet, gesturing at his leg. He added he has been told by his wife and children to seek medical care abroad but cannot afford to travel. “The medicine, by God, the medicine, I haven’t been able to get,” he said.
Mar’i and his family have moved four times since January 2025, Al Jazeera reported. His mother, Salwa, said their four-storey home in the camp was levelled by the Israeli military so a road could be built. She described the loss as painful; the family had built the house after earlier displacement in 1948.
UNRWA told Al Jazeera it has kept some schools and basic health clinics running but cannot cover all needs. Friedrich said the agency feared the recent operations aimed to change “the geographical expression of the Palestinian refugee issue.”
Featured image: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, United Nations via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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