At night, Israeli troops entered the Janning refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and began ordering its 20,000 Palestinian residents to leave their homes, and Jumaa Zawayda, 66, said he would refuse.
“My family is gone, but I told them I have to stay and if Israeli forces raid our house, I want to stop damaging it there.”
What followed was three days of fear, gunfire, explosions and continuous drone sounds nearby, and commands that jumaa could not figure out in the noise. Then cut off the water and electricity, his cell phone ran out of battery, and Jumaa felt he could not stay anymore.
Now, three months later, Jumaa stands on a mountain in Jenin City, looking at the ghost town of the refugee town of him and other residents, and the Israeli military still cannot return.
He tried to see if his home was one of many people whose Israeli forces were destroyed in operations against Palestinian armed groups that appeared in the camp. The ongoing explosion can be heard below.
“Some people told me they thought our building was demolished, but we weren't sure,” Jumaa said.
The father of nine people who had worked in the construction industry spent three months among the displaced residents in the camp. Now, he moved to the college student accommodation he shared with his brother.
Before the war broke out in Gaza in October 2023, Israel had begun military campaigns against armed groups in the West Bank.
Many groups emerged in densely populated urban refugee camps, created for Palestinians who fled or were deported during the war, in the war after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
The main groups of the Jenning Camp are affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Their fighters mainly attacked Israeli military forces, as well as sporadic attacks on Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The number of fighters is unclear, but local journalists estimate that there were about 150 fighters at the Jenning camp ahead of recent operations by Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
The Palestinian authorities, which ruled parts of the West Bank, launched their own crackdown at the Jenning camp in December 2024, and their troops retreated only when the Israeli military began its major operations in January.
Israel’s defense minister called the camps “Nest of Terror” and in January stepped up movements against armed groups operating inside them – entering and blocking many refugee camps in the northern West Bank, home to thousands of Palestinians.
It ordered residents to leave and began a wave of demolition of buildings, while providing some residents with a brief opportunity to collect property.
Jumaa manages to retrieve his dog and refugee card from home [BBC]
But because Israel almost completely blocked the opportunity to enter the camp rather than publicly announce what buildings they have destroyed, many Palestinians are bothered by whether they have homes to go home.
UNRWA said its best estimate is that Israel was razed during Operation Iron Wall, with at least 260 buildings containing about 800 apartments, focusing on three refugee camps in the northern West Bank: Jenning, Turkarem and Nulkams. Foreign Dutch estimates that 42,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the camps since January.
In February, the Israeli military announced that it had killed 60 fighter jets in operation and arrested 280 fighter jets. Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said 100 people have been killed in the West Bank since the start of Israel's operations in January to today.
Defense Minister Katz said the military was destroying weapons and infrastructure “on a large scale” and said he had directed the military to retain it for a year in the refugee camps and prevented residents from returning there.
The Israeli military told the BBC that militia “used civilians as human shields and endangered them by planting explosive devices and hidden weapons.”
On May 1, Israel provided Palestinian officials in the West Bank with 106 buildings that will be demolished in Tulkarem and used for “military purposes” within the next 24 hours. It said residents can apply for a short window to return to their homes to retrieve basic items.
The aid agency said Israel’s campaign has resulted in the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank for decades.
“What is happening is unprecedented,” said UNFA West Bank director Roland Friedrich.
He added: “We have never seen anything like this since 1967 in terms of the number of people displaced and the extent of destruction.”
Israeli troops detain Palestinian municipal workers at the camp Jenning during destruction [BBC]
The BBC was filming Mayor Jenning’s interview, witnessing Israeli forces detaining several Palestinians, including municipal workers trying to enter the camp to clear nearby hospitals. They were kept for three hours before being released.
Mayor Mohammad Jarrar said: “There are huge challenges in providing services to citizens. It is well known that the infrastructure at the Camp Jenning has been completely demolished.”
“The goal of Israel is to try to make the Camp Jenning completely unsuitable for life, and I tell you it has become completely impossible.”
Roland Friedrich of UNRWA said Israel's blockade of West Bank refugee camps had established information about what was nearly impossible.
Jumaa is one of some displaced Palestinians who were briefly visited by Israeli forces to retrieve their property. He could only catch his UN ID card and his family dog. Then two months later, in March, Israel released a map of more than 90 buildings demolished in Jenning. Jumaa's residence looks like it's all.
The Israeli military told the BBC that it was necessary to demolish the buildings to improve the “freedom of movement” of its troops, but did not confirm whether Jumaa's house was indeed destroyed.
The BBC compared Israel's March demolition map with satellite images of Jenin. We have been able to confirm that by March 27, at least 33 buildings on the list, including Jumaa, had been destroyed. Satellite images show that many further demolitions have been carried out since January, including Israeli forces where the building was previously standing, building new roads.
“Why did they demolish my house? I want to know. I want the Israeli army to give me reasons. I have no connection with the militants. I am a peaceful person,” Juma said.
“I have been working for 50 years to build my own home.”
Despite learning that his house had been demolished, Juma insisted that he would go home.
“I'm not leaving the camp. If they don't let me rebuild my house, I'll set up a tent in its location,” he said.
“My family was displaced in 1948, and now we have to face displacement again, isn’t that enough?”
Other reports by Lina Shaikhouni and Daniele Palumbo.
