UN, March 11. /TASS/. Israel’s military activity in the West Bank has led to the largest relocation of Palestinians since 1967, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said in a statement.
"In the West Bank the operation by the Israeli Security Forces, which started six weeks ago, is severely impacting Palestinians, especially in the north. <…> Several refugee camps have been nearly emptied, displacing around 40,000 Palestine Refugees. This is the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967," the statement published on the UNRWA website said. It also emphasized that Palestinian armed groups have been becoming increasingly active in the area. According to Lazzarini, UNRWA continues to track displaced people and provide them with humanitarian aid, including healthcare, food, and basic necessities.
On January 21, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a large-scale counterterrorist operation in the vicinity of the West Bank city of Jenin dubbed "Iron Wall." He stated that the operation aims to "defeat terrorism in Jenin," where radical Palestinian groups are active, and to bolster security in that general area.