West Bank Terror Crackdown Sees Largest Displacement of Palestinians Since 1967
More than 40,100 have fled their homes amid Operation Iron Wall, according to UNRWA; many say they were told to leave by IDF
The Israeli occupation carries out the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967.
By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers’ sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — allegedly the largest displacement in the territory since the Six Day War in 1967.
It comes amid an Israel Defense Forces crackdown, dubbed Operation Iron Wall in the West Bank, launched on January 21, days after a ceasefire agreement was reached in the Gaza Strip.
Seven minutes to leave home
Over a dozen displaced Palestinians interviewed by the Associated Press in the last week said they did not flee their homes out of fear, but on the orders of Israeli security forces. AP journalists in the Nur Shams camp also heard Israeli soldiers shouting through mosque megaphones, ordering people to leave.
Some displaced families said they were ruthless, ransacking rooms, waving rifles and hustling residents out of their homes despite pleas for more time.
“I was sobbing, asking them, ‘Why do you want me to leave my house?’ My baby is upstairs, just let me get my baby please,’” Ayat Abdullah, 30, recalled from a shelter for displaced people in the village of Kafr al-Labd. “They gave us seven minutes. I brought my children, Nothing else.”
