‘My hands are empty’: Displaced Palestinians struggle to survive

What the report says

Displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are facing worsening hardship after Israeli military operations emptied the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, according to Al Jazeera. The report, published in Tulkarem, focuses on families who say they have been forced from one temporary shelter to another while struggling with debt, rent, and untreated health problems.

One case highlighted is Hakim Mar’i, who lives with his family in a cramped apartment near the ruins of Tulkarem camp. He is unable to work because of a serious leg injury and other medical conditions, and his family says it has fallen behind on rent and food costs. His mother said the family’s former home in the camp was demolished after their removal. Al Jazeera also reported that the family had already been displaced in 1948.

The article says more than 33,000 people were removed from the three camps in early 2025, which UNRWA describes as the largest single displacement in the West Bank since 1967. The agency says large parts of the camps have been damaged or destroyed and that many displaced residents now lack regular income. UNRWA officials quoted in the report warned that the closed military zone has been repeatedly renewed, with no clear return plan.

Al Jazeera also described the situation of Khadija Zbeidat’s family, who are living in overcrowded conditions in Dhinnaba and fear eviction. The broader significance, as presented in the report, is that a once-temporary refugee-camp system has been left in ruins, deepening poverty and uncertainty for families already living through generations of displacement.