Allow the Displaced to Return to Refugee Camps in the Northern West Bank

Illustrative. Boy in the Jenin refugee camp. Photo: © Richard Juilliart | Dreamstime.com

On September 11, 2025, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition on behalf of the residents of the Jenin and Nur al-Shams refugee camps in the northern West Bank, who were evacuated from their homes as part of Operation Iron Wall. The petition states that tens of thousands of residents of the refugee camps, including children, women, and the elderly, were suddenly and forcibly evacuated from their homes in a manner that did not allow for any preparation or to collect basic necessities to take with them. They have still not been allowed to return to their homes, and many of them remain without shelter and without adequate humanitarian assistance. The petition argues that this is the largest wave of mass displacement in the West Bank since 1967, and that while the army denies the evacuation, it also does not allow the residents to return to their homes.  

The petition is based on the provisions of international humanitarian law, particularly Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forced displacement of civilian populations except in cases of absolute military necessity. When emergency situations do require a civilian population to be evacuated and displaced, steps must be taken to ensure that the evacuation is temporary, that citizens are sheltered, and that their essential needs are met. In this case, the continued prevention of residents' ability to return to their homes and the lack of humanitarian response to their needs constitute a violation of these provisions and of the fundamental rights of the protected residents.  

ACRI requested that the Court order the State to stop preventing the return of the displaced to their homes and, until then, to immediately provide for the humanitarian needs of the tens of thousands who remain without shelter and without access to their homes and property, many of whom are also without a means of livelihood and without education and health services. 

HCJ 30662-09-25 Salama v. Commander of IDF Forces in the West Bank  

Attorneys: Hila Sharon, Reut Shaer  

ACRI's petition, September 11, 2025 (Heb) 

ACRI's legal correspondence before filing the petition (Heb) 

The petition was written with the assistance of field coordinator Muhannad Anati and legal intern Yaser Abu Areesha