Tens of thousands of people in the occupied West Bank are being barred from returning to their homes, almost one year since Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the territory, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Out of 40,000 people who were forced to leave refugee camps in the northern part of the Palestinian territory earlier this year, 32,000 have not been allowed to return amid a “systematic demolition” of civilian housing and infrastructure, Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, told The National.
“This is a clear case of forcible displacement,” he said.
In January, Israel launched Operation Iron Wall which has been described as one of the largest military offensives in West Bank's recent history.
The Israeli military sent tanks, snipers and special forces into the city of Jenin, days after a ceasefire came into effect in Gaza, raiding refugee camps that already had difficult living conditions.
According to a UN report, the military assault resulted in the longest and most extensive displacement crisis since Israeli seized the territory in 1967.
“It was a new level of escalation not seen before,” said Mr Friedrich.
Three of the besieged refugee camps in Jenin remain empty, he told The National.
“You have a situation where people are actively prevented from returning [to their homes],” said Mr Friedrich. “This leads to a lot of human suffering. It is a clear violation of international law. And it creates a situation where you have more despair, more anger and more frustration on the ground.”
A fragile ceasefire that came into effect in Gaza in October has done little to curb violence in the West Bank.
Settler attacks
On November 26, the Israeli military launched another large-scale offensive in the northern West Bank, named Five Stones, which it described as a “counterterrorism operation”. UNRWA has noted the use of “warlike tactics” in the assault, which include ground invasions, raids, house demolitions and air strikes.
In addition to a surge in “aggressive and militarised Israeli security operations”, the West Bank is witnessing an unprecedented level of settler violence with no accountability, said Mr Friedrich.
The UN's humanitarian office recorded the highest number of settler attacks in the West Bank for the month of October, coinciding with the annual olive harvest, since it began documenting such incidents in 2006. June witnessed the highest number of settler-inflicted injuries on Palestinians in two decades, according to UNRWA figures.
Local staff working with the UN agency in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have also been heavily affected by the violence. “They often pay a personally high price for the work that they do,” said Mr Friedrich. “More than 70 of our own staff in the northern West Bank are displaced, and 18 had their houses destroyed.”
Meanwhile, UNRWA's main headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah district of East Jerusalem is empty.
“It's too dangerous for our Palestinian colleagues to work from there because it has seen a series of attacks by extremists,” Mr Friedrich said.
War on UNRWA
Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of not being impartial and its employees of being affiliated with Palestinian militants, without providing evidence.
The Israeli Knesset last year voted in favour of two laws that prohibit UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and bar Israeli authorities from contacting or co-operating with UNRWA, issuing visas to its foreign staff or enabling any imports for it. This has hindered aid efforts and only local staff remain in Gaza and the West Bank, where they run the agency's services.
“Both laws are in violation of international law, and in violation of Israel's own commitment as a UN member state,” said Mr Friedrich.
The ban has also affected UNRWA's aid delivery to Gaza, where the situation is “still very bad” despite a ceasefire. “It's very important that the bombing stops, but at the same time, we need to see more assistance getting into Gaza,” Mr Friedrich said. A man-made famine in the enclave has made people weaker, he added.
The International Court of Justice in October ruled that Israel, as an occupying power, was “under an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and its entities including UNRWA”.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of renewing UNRWA's mandate, for three years, in a move that the body's chief Philippe Lazzarini said “reflects the broad solidarity of people across the world with Palestine refugees”.
He called for the vote to materialise into a tangible solution.
Vital support
Despite legal, logistical and financial challenges, UNRWA has continued working to provide health care, education, shelter, psychosocial support and cash assistance, among other services, in Gaza and the West Bank.
“Our work is absolutely essential,” said Mr Friedrich. “And we need to be able not only to continue, but also to scale it up.”
The UN agency's operations need to be enabled and maintained until a political solution to the Palestinian plight is found, he added.
It needs political and financial support “to continue its role in the absence of a viable solution”, Mr Friedrich said.
“It is in the interest of the region for UNRWA to be preserved and to continue its work in this critical period.”
