Ten months on, displacement feels permanent for West Bank camp residents
Ten months after he was forced out of the occupied West Bank's Tulkarem refugee camp, Hakam Irhil doesn't know if he will ever be able to return.
Irhil was displaced and his home demolished after Israel launched a major military operation in mid-January in multiple northern Palestinian refugee camps, where the army says it is seeking to root out armed groups.
Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, calls the ongoing operation "Iron Wall".
"Before the operation, in our house -- even though it was in the camp -- each child had a room. Our life was better," the 41-year-old father of four told AFP.
Irhil now lives in a nearby school, and fears the temporary refuge could well become permanent.
The NGO Human Rights Watch warned in a report published Thursday that 32,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced due to Iron Wall.
- 'War crimes' -
Over the decades in Tulkarem camp -- as with other Palestinian camps -- tents gave way to concrete buildings, onto which new generations added floors to........





















Toi Staff
Sabine Sterk
Gideon Levy
Penny S. Tee
Waka Ikeda
Mark Travers Ph.d
John Nosta
Daniel Orenstein
Beth Kuhel