A human rights group says Israel may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity after forcibly expelling 32,000 Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps.
Israel may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity when it forcibly expelled 32,000 Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps earlier this year during a military operation in the area, a human rights group said Thursday.
Human Rights Watch said in a report that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz should be investigated for war crimes and prosecuted if found responsible.
While much of the world focused on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israel’s military raided refugee camps in the north of the West Bank and expelled tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in January and February. It amounted to the largest-ever displacement in the territory since Israel captured it in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has said troops would stay in some camps for a year. It is not clear when, if ever, Palestinians will be able to return. In the meantime, thousands of Palestinians are living with relatives or cramming into rental apartments, while the impoverished seek refuge in public buildings.
Israel, which called the raids “Operation Iron Wall,” said they were needed to stamp out militancy as violence by all sides surged after Hamas’ Oct.
