On Jan. 21, just two days after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect, Israel launched a major new military operation in the occupied West Bank. Originally focused on Jenin refugee camp, “Operation Iron Wall” has since expanded to three more camps in the northern West Bank: Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Al-Far’a.
These incursions, bolstered by air power, are aimed at repressing Palestinian armed resistance, which has grown stronger in the refugee camps in recent years. But Israeli forces have also wrought extreme destruction upon civilian infrastructure — bulldozing roads, leveling entire residential blocks, and forcibly displacing 40,000 people from their homes. In both intensity and scale, it is the largest Israeli military operation in the West Bank since the Second Intifada, which ended two decades ago.
Over the past three weeks, Israel claims to have killed over 50 Palestinian militants, while its forces have also killed several civilians. These include a 2-year-old girl near Jenin; two women in their early 20s in Nur Shams camp, one of whom was eight-months pregnant; and a 10-year-old boy in Tulkarem camp.
Saddam Hussein Iyad Rajab, the 10-year-old, had come from the village of Kafr Al-Labad to visit relatives in Tulkarem camp on Jan. 28 when an Israeli soldier shot him in the abdomen. “Saddam was standing in front of the house as we prepared to pray,” his father, Iyad, told +972. “There were no army vehicles, no snipers, and no resistance fighters nearby. He stepped outside before me, taking the chance to speak to his mother. Twenty seconds later, I heard his cries.”
Due to a work injury two years ago that has limited his mobility, Iyad struggled to reach his son quickly. “It took me a while to pull him to safety and get him to the hospital,” he recounted. A week and a half later, Rajab succumbed to his wounds.
“After my injury, I saw him as the man of the house,” Iyad said. “He helped me with everything — from accompanying me to the hospital to taking me to the mosque. May God have mercy on Saddam.”
Since Israel expanded its assault to Tulkarem camp on Jan. 27, the vast majority of residents have been forcibly displaced. Those families are now scattered between relatives’ homes, schools, and public facilities, relying on local support from the municipal authorities and the surrounding villages.
Ahmed Al-Dosh, who works for the Education Ministry in Tulkarem, has special needs and uses a wheelchair to get around. The destruction of the camp’s infrastructure meant that leaving the area was extremely difficult. “Four young men carried me in my wheelchair to help me get out,” he told +972.
Today, he and his family are sheltering in the Tulkarem Cultural Center along with some 50 more displaced people of all ages. The space is divided into three sections: an area for food supplies, a section for women and children, and a men’s section.
As these families try to adjust to this new reality, their hearts remain in the camp — where many of their homes are now rubble and their futures uncertain. Al-Dosh was devastated to have to leave behind his birds and cat. “I’m sure I won’t find them alive, and I think of them with every meal I eat here,” he added.
Over 20,000 Palestinians have been displaced from Jenin camp alone. Over the past week, some of them have risked their lives to try to reach their homes and collect belongings they left behind amid ongoing Israeli military activity in the camp, such as clothes, food, and important documents. While some of them succeeded, others were detained by Israeli soldiers, had their belongings confiscated, or even came under fire with live ammunition.
These photos offer a glimpse of the destruction in some of the outer neighborhoods of the besieged camp, with residents reporting even more severe devastation deeper within. The stories of displacement and martyrdom repeat, and the occupation continues to uproot Palestinians, leaving behind endless wounds.
