Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that displaced Palestinians from three refugee camps in the northern West Bank will not be allowed to return to their homes. His statement came after Israel's Supreme Court ordered the state to present a timeline for measures needed for their eventual return.
In a video address filmed outside the Tulkarm camp, Netanyahu described it as a "stronghold of terrorism" and said the Israeli army had "cleansed" it. on the orders of the government.
“These are not residents, they are terrorists“, said Benjamin Netanyahu.The court's decision does not mean the immediate return of the displaced people and does not require the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the camps. The state must present its position by November 23, 2026, including a timetable for implementing the necessary measures and answering questions about humanitarian assistance for the displaced residents.
Tens of thousands have been displaced since 2025.
Since January 2025, tens of thousands of Palestinians have left the camps of “Jenin“, “Nur Shams“ and “Tulkarm“. The Israeli army presents the operations that began then as actions against the infrastructure of armed groups in the area. According to AFP, a large number of displaced residents have not been able to return to their homes.
Netanyahu's position contradicts the court's instructions, which accepted that the conditions for immediate return were not yet in place, but asked the authorities to indicate when and under what measures it could become possible.
Injured in operation in Ramallah
On Tuesday, two Palestinians were injured by Israeli army fire during an operation in Ramallah, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced. A young man with a serious gunshot wound to the lower back and a 14-year-old boy with a wound to the upper thigh were admitted to hospital. There were also reports of suffocation.
Israeli forces stormed the former office of the Palestinian organization “Adamir“, and AFP journalists seized documents and furniture. The forces remained in the area for nearly four hours and used tear gas and stun grenades against reporters. Four journalists were injured, and the Israeli army did not immediately comment to AFP.
In a separate statement, the Israeli army said it had thwarted an attack in the northern West Bank and detained four suspected members of “Islamic Jihad“. The army also reported the arrest of a wanted person in Beit Rima on suspicion of arms trafficking.
The West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, is home to about three million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers. Tensions in the region have increased in parallel with the war in the Gaza Strip, which began after the attack by “Hamas“ against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Sources: news.bg, arabnews.com, jpost.com