ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK, 11 January. - (ANA) - The number of displaced children comes as Israel carries out sweeping incursions and raids in the West Bank, which have been decried as collective punishment.

 

The UN agency UNRWA announced on Monday that over 12,000 Palestinian children have been forcibly displaced in the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s repeated incursions and military operations.

 

Since January 2025, Israel has launched a military operation it has dubbed "Operation Iron Wall", which spans cities and villages across the north of the West Bank.

 

The operation, which the military claims is due to security concerns, started in the Jenin refugee camp and his since expanded to other areas, including Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps.

 

The military operations include the violent raiding and searching of homes, damage to Palestinian land, the demolition of key infrastructure such as roads, and heavy restrictions on the movement of civilians.

 

The repeated incursions have brought the lives of many Palestinians to a standstill, affecting their livelihoods and preventing children from going to school.

 

The UN figures come as Israeli authorities on Monday ordered for the demolition of the home of a Palestinian detainee in Qabatiya, located south of Jenin, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources.

 

The sources said Israeli forces stormed Ahmed Abu al-Rubb’s family home and issued the family with a demolition notice, which grants them only 72 hours to submit an objection.

 

The demolition and damage to homes belonging to Palestinian detainees has long been lambasted by rights groups as a form of collective punishment. The Al-Haq human rights group said the punitive demolitions amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem also weighed in, stating: "The people who bear the brunt of the [punitive] demolitions are relatives - including women, the elderly, and children - whom Israel does not suspect of involvement in any offense."

 

Along with the home demolitions and raids, Israeli forces on Monday carried out sweeping arrests in the Aida refugee camp, near Bethlehem.

 

At least 20 Palestinians were detained and interrogated after Israeli forces stormed the area and searched multiple homes.

 

Settler attacks have also increased since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

 

On Monday, Israeli settlers seized a Palestinian home in occupied east Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood.

 

Local sources told Wafa that dozens of settlers took over the house, which was later identified to belonging to the Basbous family. The house, made up of two apartments, was home to 13 people.

 

Rights groups state that settler attacks often take place under the protection of Israeli forces, and that police do not carry out proper investigations into the assaults.

 

Violations against journalists have also been widely recorded in recent months, with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on Sunday stating that at least 99 violations were committed by Israeli forces in December 2025.

 

In its monthly report, the syndicate said that Israeli forces had employed a systemic policy of targeting Palestinian reporters, even while they are working, in what it called a concerted effort to stop Palestinian media from documenting Israeli crimes.

 

It added that the attacks, which also target the families of journalists, violate the Geneva Conventions, noting that there were at least 48 cases in December where Israeli forces blocked journalists’ coverage and 15 cases where they used tear gas and sound grenades during reportages.   - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/11 January 2026 - - -