Rights groups say about 32,000 residents of Jenin, Turkum and Nur Shams camps were forcibly evacuated by Israeli forces during Operation Ironclad in January and February, Reuters reported. The group’s 105-page report, titled “All Dreams Extinguished,” said displaced people were prevented from returning and hundreds of homes were demolished.
“Ten months after the evacuation, none of the families have been able to return to their homes,” Milena Ansari, a Human Rights Watch researcher who helped write the report, told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday that civilian infrastructure needed to be destroyed to prevent it from being misused by insurgents. It did not say when residents would be able to return.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit the evacuation of civilians from occupied territory, except for urgent military reasons or temporary security reasons. HRW said the responsible officials should be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report said soldiers raided homes, looted property and ordered families to leave using loudspeakers mounted on drones. The newspaper said residents reported that bulldozers destroyed buildings during the evacuation and that Israeli forces provided no shelter or aid, forcing families to huddle with relatives or seek refuge in mosques, schools and charity organizations.
MNA