Israel plans to block return of Palestinians to Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur Shams camps: Report

Israel plans to bar tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced from three refugee camps in the northern West Bank from returning, while maintaining a military presence in the devastated areas, according to a report. The Israeli army told the regime’s so-called Supreme Court that Palestinians displaced from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps would not be permitted to return, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Thursday. The army said it intends to maintain its presence in the camps, claiming this is necessary to preserve what it describes as “operational and security control.” Israeli forces have also carried out extensive demolition and engineering work in the camps, including widening roads and opening new routes for military vehicles, Haaretz reported. The measures come after tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from the three camps during Israel’s large-scale military onslaught in the northern West Bank. Palestinian residents and aid organizations have described the evacuations as abrupt and deeply disruptive, leaving many families dependent on limited humanitarian assistance. The widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure has further undermined living conditions in the camps, making it increasingly difficult for displaced residents to return or remain there. The developments come amid a broader Israeli campaign in the northern West Bank involving raids, demolitions and restrictions on Palestinian movement. Human Rights Watch has described Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians and destruction of their property in the West Bank as serious violations of humanitarian and international law. Since October 7, 2023, when the regime launched its genocidal assault on Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers have killed 1,183 Palestinians, and wounded 12,635 others in Occupied West Bank. In Gaza, Israel treats children’s kites as weapons, pushing the genocidal war into terrifying new territory Treating kites flown by children in the besieged Gaza Strip as military threats represents a dangerous escalation by the occupying regime by pushing the ongoing genocidal war into a new terrifying territory. Israeli settlement leaders call for starvation in Gaza Heads of several Israeli settlement councils toured Gaza on Wednesday alongside senior military commanders, calling for tighter restrictions on Palestinians in the besieged territory. Israeli media quoted Alon Davidi, mayor of Sderot in the occupied western Negev, as saying after the tour, “The solution here is to keep striking [Palestinians] all the time, and we must consider the yellow line as a starting point.” Davidi further called for continued attacks on Palestinians and explicitly advocated restricting food supplies, saying, “This is the only way to win, even if we have to apply pressure by preventing food from entering.” Meanwhile, Athena Rayburn, the Executive Director of the Association of International Development Agencies, told a UN panel on Wednesday that aid restrictions in Gaza remained severe. Rayburn warned that US President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace was failing to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli attacks. “This is not success. Any reported improvements do not dilute the responsibility that still sits in this room,” Rayburn said. She stressed that children who escape starvation can still be killed by Israeli soldiers and said Gaza remained in an extremely dangerous situation. Rayburn also highlighted restrictions on medical supplies, revealing that wheelchairs and crutches had repeatedly been rejected by the Israeli regime as “dual-use” items. Restrictions on engine oil had pushed its price up by 45 percent, while watermelons and onions had also been rejected under an undisclosed “humanitarian policy,” She added. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli regime has killed at least 73,438 Palestinians and wounded another 174,447 in Gaza, most of them women and children.