Petition to the Israeli Supreme Court Demands the Return of Displaced Persons to Camps in Northern West Bank

SadaNews - Today, Thursday, the Association for Civil Rights submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on behalf of the residents of the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm camps in northern West Bank, demanding to enable them to return to their homes from which they were displaced eight months ago amid ongoing Israeli escalation.

The petition stated that tens of thousands of camp residents, including children, women, and the elderly, "were forced to leave their homes under sudden, violent, and humiliating circumstances, with no time to prepare or gather the bare minimum of their daily necessities."

The petition emphasized that the occupation has prevented the displaced persons from the camps in northern occupied West Bank from returning to their homes even today, while many of them live without shelter or sufficient humanitarian aid, as the occupation's army engages in systematic destruction of the camps.

The petition pointed out that what has occurred represents the largest wave of mass displacement in the West Bank since 1967, accusing the authorities of trying to "deny the eviction of the camps while simultaneously preventing their residents from returning, depriving the displaced of any humanitarian support, while many live without a source of income and their children lack educational services."

The association based its argument on international humanitarian law, particularly Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forcible displacement of civilian populations except in cases of extreme military emergencies, and requires it to be temporary, providing shelter and support for basic needs. It viewed the continued prevention of return and the absence of support as "a serious violation of these provisions and the fundamental rights of the residents."

The association demanded that the Supreme Court issue an urgent order to the Israeli authorities to stop preventing refugees from returning to their homes and to immediately work on providing the necessary humanitarian aid until they are allowed to return.

The Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps in the northern occupied West Bank have become akin to "ghost towns" due to the military operation carried out by the Israeli army for nearly 230 days, which has caused extensive destruction of infrastructure and opened new roads at the expense of Palestinian homes.

Since January 21 of the past year, the Israeli army has launched a military operation in the Jenin camp, termed "Iron Wall," which expanded days later to the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps. The occupation's Minister of Security, Israel Katz, announced that his forces would remain deployed in the refugee camps in northern West Bank until at least the end of the year.

According to data from the media committee of Tulkarm, the Israeli army has destroyed over 600 homes completely in its recent aggression on the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps, while approximately 2,573 homes sustained partial damage.

According to the media committee of the Jenin camp, the Israeli army has fully demolished more than 620 homes since the onset of the aggression, while the remainder of the homes suffered partial damage rendering them uninhabitable.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) stated that the current Israeli military operation, the longest in the West Bank since the Second Intifada in 2002, has led to the displacement of 40,000 Palestinian refugees, forced to leave their homes with no return allowed until now.