Occupation forcibly displaces Palestinian families from 'Arraba Camp' south of Jenin

The deadline set by the Israeli occupation authorities for the evacuation of the 'Arraba Camp' area, located south of Jenin city in the occupied West Bank, ended today, Tuesday. This deadline came after field pressure exerted by occupation forces to compel Palestinian families in the area to immediately leave their lands and properties.

Field sources reported that occupation forces began pursuing Palestinian families residing at the entrance to Arraba town yesterday, threatening them with immediate arrest and confiscation of all their properties and livestock if they did not comply with the evacuation orders. The targeted area includes a number of simple structures used by families for sheep farming and agriculture.

Historically, the targeted area is known as 'Dothan Camp,' where it was a headquarters for the Jordanian army before the 1967 Naksa, before the occupation army took control of it and transformed it into a military barracks and settlement. The occupation remained in control of the site until 2005, when it withdrew as part of the 'disengagement plan' which included the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Sources clarified that Palestinian families tried to obtain an additional grace period to safely transfer their properties and livestock, but the occupation authorities insisted on ending the deadline today, Tuesday. This intransigence led to the forced displacement of families who found themselves homeless after years of presence in these lands, which had regained their pastoral character after the 2005 evacuation.

Observers believe that the recent movements in Arraba are not merely routine security measures, but rather part of a broader strategy to re-impose full Israeli sovereignty over areas previously evacuated. Estimates indicate that the occupation seeks to reopen the military camp as a preparatory step for the permanent return of settlers to the area.

These developments coincide with an escalation in settler attacks, who have begun to move freely outside the fenced settlements in Jenin Governorate, threatening to turn Palestinian villages and towns into suffocated geographical enclaves. The current Israeli government supports these trends by providing legal and financial facilities to strengthen control over lands classified as 'C'.

This escalation reflects a fundamental change in the geopolitical landscape of the northern West Bank, as the occupation seeks to reduce the areas available to Palestinians to their lowest levels. These steps come in light of Israeli political decisions aimed at undermining any possibility of Palestinian geographical contiguity and transforming the West Bank into separate cantons under strict security and military control.

This measure comes within Israeli plans to return settlers to settlements evacuated in 2005, reflecting trends to control more Palestinian lands.