Hoda Habayeb and Fatima Ibrahim - Since January 21, 2019, and 48 hours after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into effect, the Israeli occupation launched an unprecedented aggression on the West Bank, focusing on the northern governorates of the West Bank and continuing to this day in Jenin and Tulkarm. This aggression has resulted in the forced displacement of more than 40,000 citizens from their homes, particularly in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps, along with the destruction of hundreds of homes and the widespread demolition of infrastructure.

In Jenin camp, approximately 3,200 families were displaced from the camp's neighborhoods and alleys. Data from Jenin Municipality indicates that the displaced are distributed between the city and the governorate's towns and villages. Some 4,000 displaced persons were distributed among shelters in the city, the most important of which are the Blind Center and the Korean Center. The Burqin Municipality alone received approximately 4,700 displaced persons, while the rest sought refuge in the homes of relatives in neighboring towns and villages.

Muhammad Abdul Wahab, a 42-year-old displaced person from Jenin camp, is currently living in the blind center in Jenin. He is a father of four children, the eldest of whom is 10 years old. He says he was forced to leave his home on the third day of the camp invasion, after Israeli drones threatened citizens with evacuating their homes and leaving them through a single corridor, towards Wadi Burqin, west of the camp.

“At first, I tried to go out to explore the road before moving my family, but the situation was very difficult,” Abdul Wahab continues. “The camp was completely surrounded on all sides, with a heavy presence of occupation soldiers in the neighborhoods and alleys. We were forced to leave through one passageway from the direction of the Return Roundabout, west of the camp, and from there to Burqin. On that day, we had to pass in front of cameras installed by the occupation army that record the facial print of every displaced person. The soldiers detained some of them, interrogated them, and arrested a number of them.”

Abdul Wahab and his family are spending the holy month of Ramadan at the Blind Center under extremely difficult circumstances, far from his home and other relatives. He shares a single kitchen with the remaining 85 displaced people, where he prepares the iftar meal together. Meanwhile, his children spend their days away from school, which they have been deprived of since the start of the second semester.

"The children's future is effectively lost," Abdul Wahab says. "They spend all their time here at the center. There's no schooling, no activities, not even family visits. They play here in this small garden, where there are a few toys."

Displaced Umm Ali, 26, lives with her family at the Arab American University housing complex, far from her home in the camp.

"Nothing here resembles Ramadan life in the camp," she says, trying to prepare an iftar table for her family. "Not the family gatherings, not the customs they're used to, nothing."

Umm Ali and many other displaced people rely on food provided by charitable organizations and a number of restaurants in Jenin to prepare their iftar meals.

She notes that she was displaced from her home in the camp on the first day of the aggression, along with her three children and her mother-in-law, while her husband works outside Jenin.

She says, "I chose to flee to protect my children, even though the journey was not safe due to the occupation forces' random firing of live ammunition. One of the bullets almost hit one of my children after it penetrated the window of the vehicle transporting them."

In Tulkarm, the ongoing aggression on the city and its two camps resulted in the forced displacement of more than 9,000 residents from Nour Shams camp and 12,000 from Tulkarm camp.

Bushra Shehab, a resident of the "Mari'a Hanoun" neighborhood in Tulkarm refugee camp, is currently sheltering in the city's cultural and sports center. She recounts the difficult moments she experienced when Israeli forces stormed the camp on February 27, forcing her to abruptly leave her home with her three daughters, the youngest of whom is 4 years old and the oldest of whom is 9.

“We left the house the day the occupation soldiers stormed the camp,” Shehab says. “We were in a state of fear and panic, and we left everything behind. We couldn’t even eat our lunch. I saw all my neighbors fleeing the neighborhood, while the occupation soldiers stormed the place in a barbaric manner, and they assaulted our elderly neighbor with a motor disability, beating him mercilessly.”

She explained that she had returned a few days ago to check on her home and found it completely destroyed, with the doors, furniture, and walls shattered. It was no longer habitable and in need of extensive repairs.

Shehab points to the impact of the disruption to her children's education due to the aggression. Although she has turned to e-learning to compensate for the educational loss, the results remain limited due to the difficult conditions the family is experiencing in their displacement. She notes that the camp's children need psychological relief, especially during this difficult time.

Regarding the occupation's statements claiming that returning to the camp will not be possible for a year, Shehab stressed that the residents are committed to their right to return to the camp, saying, "Our hope in God is great, and despite the pain and destruction, optimism remains the master of the situation. The children long for the camp and for the life that was full of security and peace before this devastation occurred."

It's worth noting that thousands of displaced children from the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps face significant challenges in completing their education, given the ongoing Israeli blockade and military aggression that has targeted schools and educational infrastructure in the region.

Attaf Musleh, a resident of the al-Hadaida neighborhood in Tulkarm refugee camp who has been displaced to the city's cultural and sports center, spoke about his suffering since the first day of the camp invasion. He was forced to flee his home with his nine family members after the occupation forces imposed a stifling siege on the area.

"We left amidst fear and terror as occupation forces deployed everywhere. We were split up, some taking refuge in relatives' homes and others heading to shelters, and we remain scattered to this day," Musleh said, noting that some members of his family were forced to return to the camp despite the dangerous situation.

Musleh faces significant difficulty in providing a suitable educational environment for his daughter, who is in high school. He says, "I cannot provide a suitable environment for her to study. Purchasing school supplies, such as workbooks, requires large sums of money that are not available, especially since the priority now is securing food."

Elderly Yasra Suleiman Faraj, a resident of the Manshiyya neighborhood in Nour Shams camp east of Tulkarm, is suffering from displacement after the occupation forces demolished her home.

Faraj recounts the details of what happened, saying, "On February 9, occupation soldiers raided our home while we were inside, and forced us to leave at gunpoint. We had no choice but to leave, terrified and in fear."

After being displaced, the elderly woman sought refuge in the town of Anabta for a short period, then moved to live with her daughter in the Al-Murabba'a neighborhood of Tulkarm camp, having lost the shelter she had painstakingly built over the years.

Despite the harshness of the scene, Faraj, a mother of six girls, insists she still holds on to hope of returning, saying, "My home was the fruit of my hard work, and I built the most beautiful memories there. But it was leveled to the ground in an instant. Despite everything, I believe we will return, no matter what happens."

The occupation continues to destroy homes in Nour Shams camp, as part of its plans to change the geography of the area and displace its residents.