Since the Israeli military launched a large-scale operation in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, many Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. They fear that the West Bank will follow the fate of Gaza.
From a safe distance, locals watch as Palestinian ambulances and Israeli military vehicles enter and exit the refugee camp in the city of Jenin. Many residents of the camp are also seen leaving, carrying their most necessary belongings.
Alaa Abushi, who lives at the entrance to the camp, told DW: "After they finished with Gaza, they came to us in the West Bank to take revenge on us. We don't feel safe here."
On January 21, just after the temporary ceasefire and the agreement to release the hostages in Gaza came into effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "large-scale military operation" against Palestinian militants in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Israel considers the refugee camp its stronghold.
The new Israeli military offensive is gradually expanding to other areas, including the city of Tulkarem in the northwest, where two refugee camps - Tulkarem and Nur Shams - are located. They were built after the creation of Israel in 1948 to accommodate displaced Palestinians.
New attacks, new destruction
The area is no stranger to Israeli counter-terrorism units, which expanded their operations in the area after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. The Israeli army is now carrying out airstrikes and ground incursions that have led to the destruction of buildings and infrastructure, mass evictions, arrests and deaths. Locals fear the West Bank could become a second Gaza.
"We are acting firmly in the Jenin refugee camp to stop the terrorists and destroy their infrastructure," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. He also assured that the Jenin refugee camp would no longer be what it was. After the operation is over, the Israeli military will remain in the camp to ensure that terror does not return, Katz added.
According to the United Nations, more than 40,000 Palestinian refugees have already been forcibly evicted from the camps. At least nine Palestinians have been killed in Tulkarem, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and her unborn child.
"We are frozen in fear and terror"
Umm Mohammed, a resident of the Tulkarem refugee camp, has seen many Israeli attacks in her life. But the intensity of this one is unmatched. "Each new incursion is more powerful than the last. There is shooting everywhere, we are frozen in fear and terror." After a few days, the army told them to leave their home.
Since then, Um Mohammed, her children and grandchildren have been sharing two rooms in a local sports club that takes in displaced people. Private donations of clothes and blankets are collected at the entrance, and live television broadcasts provide information about the situation in the city and the two refugee camps there. Most UN-run refugee schools remain closed, and children are trying to learn online.
Ahmed, Umm Mohammed's son, disagrees that the Israeli army is only targeting Palestinian militants. "What right do soldiers have to come and throw me out of my house? Are there armed people at home?" he asks, adding that soldiers have not allowed him to leave the camp in his electric wheelchair and he now relies on other people to help him.
But even leaving the camp is difficult, as the roads are broken. In Jenin, the Israeli military blew up about two dozen buildings in the eastern part of the camp at once, which they say housed observation posts, explosives laboratories and other terrorist infrastructure. For many, the destruction is reminiscent of the devastation in Gaza.
An uncertain future
A side effect of the current offensive is the closure of roads and long lines at Israeli military checkpoints throughout the West Bank, making life difficult for more than 3 million residents. The Israeli military confirmed to DW that it had been ordered to expand checks at checkpoints set up on roads in Judea and Samaria, as the West Bank is known in Israel.
In Tulkarem, where several roads leading to the city are also closed by the Israeli military, Umm Mohammed says she watches the news every day and waits impatiently to be allowed to return home. But she is also worried about the family's pets - five cats and several parrots - who have been forced to leave behind. "We left some food for them, but it's been more than a week. I'm afraid when we return we'll find them dead."
Their neighborhood is deserted - all the residents have been displaced. And no one knows how much longer this will continue.