Israel displaces 5,000 Palestinian families in West Bank offensive since Jan. 21: Officials

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israel’s military operation in the northern occupied West Bank has displaced 5,000 Palestinian families since Jan. 21, according to Palestinian data released Tuesday.

The Palestinian prime minister’s office issued a statement following a meeting in Ramallah, chaired by Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and attended by representatives from government agencies handling emergency response efforts.

The statement said the meeting focused on “intensifying joint efforts to enhance humanitarian interventions in northern West Bank areas (affected by the Israeli assault.)”

The Israeli operation has forced the displacement of nearly 5,000 families from Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps.

It highlighted the “escalation of home demolitions and widespread destruction of infrastructure and civilian property (by the Israeli army), particularly after the offensive expanded to include Al-Far'a refugee camp and the town of Tammun in Tubas Governorate.”

The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Refugee Affairs Department, in coordination with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the UN Development Programme, will oversee temporary housing arrangements for displaced families, the statement said.

Israel launched the operation in Jenin and its refugee camp on Jan. 21, killing 25 Palestinians as of Tuesday morning.

On Jan. 27, the military expanded its offensive to Tulkarem, where four Palestinians were killed. On Sunday, the operation extended to the Tammun and Al-Far'a refugee camps in the Tubas Governorate.

The Israeli escalation in the occupied territory came after a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal took hold in Gaza on Jan. 19 following 15 months of Israel’s genocidal war that killed more than 47,500 Palestinians and reduced the enclave to rubble.

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 905 Palestinians have been killed across the occupied West Bank in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers, according to the Palestine Health Ministry.