Date: 5/2/2026
The Department of Refugee Affairs condemned the decision issued by the Israeli occupation army to impose a siege and extend its aggression against our people in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams, and to restrict the movement of citizens there until March 31.
In a statement issued today, Thursday, the Department said that this decision constitutes a continuation of the systematic and ongoing targeting of the refugee cause, the refugee camps, and UNRWA, and is an integral part of the war of ethnic cleansing and the silent war of genocide aimed at breaking the will of the Palestinian refugee and forcing them toward forced displacement by strangling the basic necessities of daily life.
The Department affirmed that the occupation’s measures inside the camps violate international laws and constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits collective punishment and restrictions on the freedom of movement of civilians living under occupation.
It explained that the core objective behind tightening the siege on the camps is to directly paralyze the work of UNRWA and prevent it from providing its relief, medical, and educational services, in a desperate attempt to undermine the historical rights of refugees, foremost among them the right of return.
The Department of Refugee Affairs called on the international community and the United Nations to intervene immediately to halt this military aggression and protect the camps from plans of uprooting and liquidation, through continuous monitoring and documentation of all cases of harm resulting from this siege (medical cases, students, traders), and submitting them to international human rights institutions as evidence of the policy of collective punishment. It also called for demanding international protection and emphasizing the necessity of the permanent presence of international monitoring missions inside camps threatened by siege to ensure that the civilian population is not left vulnerable.
The Department urged UNRWA to intensify its role during this sensitive period by developing its field and relief operations, activating partnerships that strengthen the Agency’s work, in a manner that ensures enhancing the resilience of refugees and displaced persons from the camps, maintaining health and education services, developing educational and technological platforms, and calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities, particularly regarding the consequences arising from Israeli decisions and their impact on the refugee community and the services provided to it.
