Israeli forces have forcibly displaced 40,000 people in the occupied West Bank over the past three weeks, according to the UN [Getty]
Israel plans to destroy the refugee camp in Jenin and rebuild it as a suburb of the city, preventing more than half of its displaced residents from returning, according to a local Palestinian official.
“Officers from the Israeli Civil Administration explained to us that the military operation in the camp will continue indefinitely and that more than half of its residents will not be able to return to it after the destruction,” Ammar Abu Bakr, the head of the Jenin Chamber of Commerce, told The New Arab’s sister site Al Araby Al Jadeed.
Bulldozers have been flattening residential buildings, businesses and infrastructure in the besieged refugee camp as Israel continues its military assault on Palestinian fighters.
The camp was placed under siege by Palestinian Authority security forces in December but has come under intense assault from the Israeli military since 21 January when it launched Operation ‘Iron Wall’ to crush resistance in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.
The UN says that Israeli troops have forcibly displaced 40,000 Palestinians across the West Bank since launching the operation three weeks ago.
Some 26,000 Palestinians have been expelled from Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, according to one estimate.
Following the destruction, the civil administration – Israel’s civilian governing body that administers the occupied territories – is now interested in re-opening shops and restarting economic activity in the city and has held talks with Abu Bakr and other local officials.
“I explained to [the civil administration] that we cannot invite people to lead a normal life in the city while all 14,000 residents of the camp have been displaced,” Abu Bakr told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
It also wants the municipal authority to start fixing the roads destroyed by Israeli bulldozers, a job that won’t be done without money from the Palestinian Authority, Abu Bakr said.
“Our answer was clear on this matter. The important thing here is the Palestinian Authority, and if there is money for the authority reserved by the occupation, why don’t you transfer it to the PA and the authority will transfer it to the municipality so that it paves the streets that you destroyed in the military operation?” he said.
