A 51-Wounded Toll as Forces Pull Out.
Israeli forces withdrew from Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank overnight into Friday, bringing an end to a two-day assault that wounded more than 50 Palestinians, saw dozens more arrested, and caused widespread damage across the camp. According to the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate, dozens of residents were wounded during the operation, more than 60 people were arrested or detained for field questioning, and extensive damage was inflicted on public and private property before Israeli forces withdrew from the camp and the neighboring town of Kafr Aqab. The governorate said Palestinian Red Crescent teams treated 51 people over the course of the operation, including 38 hospitalized after assaults, six treated at the scene for injuries from beatings, one wounded by rubber bullets, and six suffering from tear gas inhalation.
Homes Turned Into Bases, a Journalist Beaten
The governorate said Israeli forces carried out widespread searches and field interrogations, converted homes into military positions, and caused extensive property damage throughout the operation. Palestinian sources said troops raided the headquarters of the camp’s popular committee and forcibly removed several residents from their homes, ordering one family to fully evacuate its house. At the same time, dawn prayers were barred in all of the camp’s mosques. Israeli soldiers also severely beat journalist Muhammad Sumrin while he was covering the raid and fired stun grenades at other journalists. Witnesses said soldiers breached a wall near the camp to let bulldozers in, which went on to demolish a car wash on Almatar Street. At the same time, leaflets and direct messages were distributed to residents warning them not to confront Israeli forces.
Part of a Wider Pattern Rights Groups Call Ethnic Cleansing
Qalandiya camp, home to more than 15,000 Palestinian refugees in a densely populated area between Jerusalem and Ramallah, has long been a frequent target of Israeli military raids due to its proximity to Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, and other Israeli-controlled areas. The assault came days after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the military to take control of another Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank without naming it, saying the operation should follow what he called the “Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Jenin model” — a reference to the mass expulsion of camp residents during “Operation Iron Wall” in early 2025, described by the UN as the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967. Human Rights Watch said Katz’s language pointed toward further expulsions and potential ethnic cleansing and war crimes, noting that more than 33,000 refugees from those camps remain displaced twenty months later, with Israeli forces continuing to bar their return and demolishing homes to build new roads for military use — acts HRW found in November 2025 amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Qalandiya operation also followed a week of escalating settler and military violence in the West Bank after Israeli gunfire killed four Palestinians in the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, following an armed settler attack on Palestinians on their own land. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir renewed calls for sweeping punitive measures against Palestinians during this period, saying Palestinian towns linked to attacks on Israelis should be treated the way Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza was treated — a town almost destroyed during the war — comments that have fueled Palestinian fears of further expanded assaults and accelerated displacement across the West Bank.