Israel's 'Gazafication' of West Bank forcing 'largest displacement since 1967'

At least 800 military barriers causing heavy movement restrictions, Oxfam warns

Two boys stand beside a model of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque that was destroyed by Israeli troops during a military raid in the occupied West Bank. AFP

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The intensifying Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank are causing the largest forced displacement of Palestinians in the territory since the occupation began, charity Oxfam International warned on Wednesday.

More than 40,000 people have been forcibly displaced from the West Bank since the Gaza ceasefire came into force on 19 January amid what the charity described as a “dramatic rise” in Israeli military violence.

Oxfam said this is “the highest number since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967".

On Monday, Israel sent tanks into the West Bank for the first time since the second Intifada 20 years ago, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prevent people from returning to their homes, in direct breach of international humanitarian law. The move to occupy Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams – three of the world's oldest refugee camps – further squeezes Palestinians from an ever-shrinking strip of land.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to step up its operations during a rare visit to troops in the territory that drew Palestinian condemnation. His visit to Tulkarm refugee camp in the north came after Israeli officials blamed the bombing of several buses in central Israel last week on fighters from the West Bank.

“As the ‘Gazafication’ of the West Bank unfolds, vital humanitarian work and projects are being delayed or destroyed,” Oxfam said.

It added that Palestinian communities across the West Bank are experiencing “multiple traumas, including deaths and arbitrary detention, heavily restricted movement and access to jobs and education, and mass demolitions of homes and infrastructure”.

At least 800 Israeli military checkpoints, barriers and gates causing unprecedented movement restrictions; two-hour journeys now take twelve, hampering humanitarian response, warned the charity.

Palestinians wait in line in vehicles to cross an Israeli army checkpoint near Ramallah. Reuters.

Oxfam’s West Bank Response Lead, Mustafa Tamaizeh, described what's happening as “a calculated annexation strategy. Overnight, movement between cities has been paralysed, piling economic and social pressure on already struggling communities”.

Several Israeli ministers previously said that they had ordered preparations for the annexation of the West Bank in the hope that the US administration would recognise Israel’s “sovereignty” over the occupied territory. Israel's annexation policies include the expansion of settlements, land confiscation, demolition of Palestinian homes, and forcible “transfer” of Palestinian civilians.

For Palestinian student Saleh Abu Zaid, “Israel's mask has finally fallen off”'.

His journey – marked by imprisonment, disrupted education, and a lack of future prospects – reflects the hardships the West Bank has endured under occupation for decades.

He was a law student at Birzeit University in Ramallah, when he was arrested by Israeli security troops in 2020 and accused of firing at a military outpost, a charge he denies. “I spent 85 days in interrogation by the Israeli Shabak [security services] at the Ashqelon prison, then was transferred from one cell to another,” he told The National.

Mr Abu Zaid says that although there was no evidence to support the charge, he was held for three years before being released and then arrested again for six months.

Palestinian student Saleh Abu Zaid faced imprisonment, disrupted education and a lack of future prospects under the Israeli occupation. Photo: Saleh Abu Zaid

Such incidents have become commonplace in the West Bank after the Gaza war began in October 2023, with at least 14,500 people arrested since then in Israeli raids targeting “terrorists”, but are rarer in Ramallah.

“In fact, armed groups are only really rampant in refugee camps – and with Ramallah being the metropolitan home of the Palestinian Authority, with heavy security presence, militant activity cannot thrive,” Palestinian political analyst Khalil Sayegh said.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza on January 19, 2025, it has been extremely difficult for Oxfam and its partners to carry out humanitarian activities in the West Bank, the charity said in its report.

“Movement restrictions have resulted in increased operational costs, delays in aid delivery, loss of perishable supplies, and increased security risks for our staff.”