Palestine: Five months of forced displacement amid advancing annexation in the West Bank
A new MSF advocacy briefing note highlights the human toll of prolonged displacement and limited access to basic services and health care.
Five months after the launch of the Israeli military operation ‘Iron Wall,’ more than 40,000 people in the northern West Bank remain forcibly displaced, cut off from their homes with limited access to basic services and healthcare.
This large-scale military campaign has seen Israeli forces raid and violently empty well-established refugee camps. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns of deteriorating health and living conditions as the Israeli Forces are still causing widespread destruction and occupying Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps – preventing people’s return and barring access to the area.
“After five months, the military operation continues,” says Simona Onidi, MSF project coordinator in Jenin and Tulkarem. “The camps remain sealed off, with Israeli soldiers actively preventing anyone from entering. Families are still in limbo and we’re worried that humanitarian needs will keep escalating.”
“We live in a constant state of fear. Israeli forces frequently patrol the area near where I’m staying. My family and I keep our bags packed at all times, ready to flee if we’re displaced again.”
A displaced woman in the West Bank
MSF’s new advocacy briefing note, Five Months Under Iron Wall, highlights the human toll of prolonged displacement in the West Bank. The note draws on MSF’s experience in the area, operational data and nearly 300 interviews with people who were forcibly displaced from the three camps. These interviews were held in mid-May and conducted across 17 locations where MSF works in the northern West Bank.
Most people have been displaced multiple times
Findings show that displacement-affected communities face growing instability and unmet needs such as access to healthcare as well as regular food and water. Nearly half of the people interviewed have been forcibly displaced three or more times in four months, while nearly three out of four are unsure if they can stay where they are currently. Over a third report feeling unsafe where they currently reside.
Mental health needs are also mounting, especially among women and children, as repeated displacement, uncertainty and being violently displaced compound distress.
“We live in a constant state of fear,” says a displaced woman living in Nur Shams refugee camp. “Israeli forces frequently patrol the area near where I’m staying. My family and I keep our bags packed at all times, ready to flee if we’re displaced again.”
Many Palestinians cannot return, and those who do may find their homes looted or burned
MSF’s findings also reveal a disturbing pattern of violence and obstruction targeting displaced people attempting to return to their homes in the camps, with over 100 incidents of indiscriminate violence reported. This includes shootings, assaults and detentions, which are affecting people of all ages and genders. Some families found their homes burned, looted, or occupied; others were explicitly threatened and told never to come back. Returns are heavily restricted, with only limited time granted or access denied altogether.
“When I came back to my home in the camp, it had been burned down and my neighbour had been killed,” says a displaced man living in Tulkarem refugee camp.
Palestinians struggle to access medical care
One in three people could not reach a doctor when needed, mainly due to cost, distance or lack of transport. Nearly half of the people surveyed report inconsistent access to food and water, while 35 per cent of individuals with chronic illnesses are unable to get regular medication.
“What we’re seeing in the northern West Bank is not just a humanitarian emergency; it’s a human-made crisis, prolonged by design and worsening by the day.”
Simona Onidi, MSF project coordinator in Jenin and Tulkarem
In response to the unfolding crisis, MSF set up mobile medical teams which run services in more than 40 public sites, displacement shelters in Jenin and Tulkarem and basic healthcare centres run by ministry of health facilities. Our teams are offering mental health support and health promotion activities.
This is just the latest escalation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank
The Iron Wall military operation is neither the beginning nor the end of the violence endured by Palestinians in the West Bank. This latest escalation comes on top of an already dire situation that has been steadily deteriorating, particularly since October 2023. As MSF’s February 2025 report Inflicting Harm and Denying Care shows, the West Bank has long been the site of repeated violations against civilians and medical organizations. The current humanitarian crisis in the northern governorates cannot be understood in isolation from the broader context of coercive, violent measures and annexation.
“What we’re seeing in the northern West Bank is not just a humanitarian emergency; it’s a human-made crisis, prolonged by design and worsening by the day,” says Onidi. “Humanitarian assistance is insufficient and inconsistent. Organizations must step up their response to provide people with shelter, medical care, mental health support and protection. We also call for an end to the Israeli military operations and lethal use of force, leading to death and injuries and for displaced communities to be allowed to return safely and with dignity.”
