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

Tulkarem, occupied West Bank – Hakim Mar’i spends his days lying connected a azygous bed, his disfigured limb raised. The windows of Mar’i’s dilapidated apartment, his latest impermanent shelter, are covered with aged blankets. Unable to work, Mar’i has nary wealth for electricity, truthful the blankets person to do. At night, his household lives successful adjacent darkness.

The flat is conscionable astir the country from mounds of rubble and gnarled robust structures that people 1 entranceway to the now-emptied Tulkarem exile camp. For Mar’i and different Palestinians, the campy was a location erstwhile considered temporary. But now, adjacent the carnal operation – their location – that tied those generations unneurotic is gone.

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The flat is conscionable astir the country from mounds of rubble and gnarled robust structures that people 1 entranceway to the now-emptied Tulkarem exile camp. For Mar’i and different Palestinians, the campy was a location erstwhile considered temporary. But generations lived there, and now, the carnal operation – their location – that tied his household unneurotic implicit the years is gone.

Impoverished, Hakim’s household is successful disarray. With its debts mounting and its members facing different eviction, helium said helium has considered taking his beingness respective times implicit the past twelvemonth and a half.

Mar’i cannot spend attraction for his debilitating limb injury, which has developed terrible infections. He said helium sustained it portion moving arsenic a labourer wrong Israel successful 2019. The coiled worsened aft Israeli soldiers severely bushed him erstwhile they forced his household from the Tulkarem camp. Diabetes and different untreated conditions person piled on, but helium is incapable to wage for the needed aesculapian care.

“This associated present is wholly gone,” helium said, gesturing astatine the swollen, blackened little limb that prevents him from working.

“The medicine – by God, the medicine, I haven’t been capable to get. My woman and kids archer me: get retired travel. Go to America, Turkey – truthful I tin the aesculapian attraction I need… I’m a sick man.”

His mother, Salwa, sat beside him, little than a kilometre (0.6 miles) from their erstwhile four-storey home. She wept erstwhile asked astir the household location that was built level by level aft they were archetypal displaced successful 1948 from al-Khudayra, the Arabic sanction for Hadera, a metropolis successful Israel. “We truly enactment a batch into that house,” she said.

After their removal, the Israeli subject razed the Mar’i location truthful a roadworthy traversing the now-emptied campy could beryllium built. “Seeing it destroyed was truly achy for america – each of us,” she said.

It has been much than 20 months since Israeli forces emptied the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams exile camps successful a sweeping subject cognition successful the bluish West Bank, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians whose families had already been refugees for 3 generations. Constantly renewed orders for a closed subject portion present forestall their return.

Since January 2025, Hakim’s household has been forced to determination 4 times. First, they fled to a converted younker centre earlier landing successful a cramped flat with their 4 children, each nether 15.

Unable to wage rent, the household could spot the landlord’s generosity tally its people arsenic this once-temporary lodging statement present has nary extremity successful sight. Hakim owes wealth astatine the section shops for nutrient helium bought connected credit. Some nights, the children devour astatine neighbours’ houses.

“I person children. I person food. I person drink,” helium said. “My hands are empty. Nobody is with me. Nobody is lasting beside me.”

Hakim Mar’i successful his family’s flat with his injured leg, which prevents him from moving [Al Jazeera]

‘We’re already astatine the brink’

The Mar’i household is among much than 33,000 Palestinians forcibly removed from the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem camps by Israeli forces successful aboriginal 2025. This is the largest azygous occurrence of forced displacement successful the West Bank since Israel’s concern began successful 1967, according to the United Nations bureau for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

UN outer imagery shows that 20 percent of each buildings crossed the 3 camps person been destroyed and different 28 percent are damaged.

“The level of demolition we are seeing is terrible and unprecedented,” said Roland Friedrich, manager of West Bank affairs for the UN bureau for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

According to Friedrich, 85 percent of those displaced person nary regular income aft galore mislaid jobs erstwhile the camps were emptied. More than 80 percent of residents are renting, an unfamiliar disbursal for families who ne'er paid for lodging oregon utilities wrong the camps.

The closed subject portion covering the camps is renewed each 2 months, Friedrich said, with nary denotation of erstwhile – oregon whether – residents volition beryllium allowed to return. “What we saw determination is forced displacement,” Friedrich said. “The UN’s presumption is precise clear: People person to beryllium allowed to return. The camps indispensable beryllium rebuilt.”

Unlike aft the 2000-2005 2nd Intifada erstwhile the Jenin campy was rebuilt, displaced families and UNRWA unit fearfulness determination is nary instrumentality program this time.

The Israeli subject stated the camps were emptied for “operational security” successful its effort to basal retired fighters from the camps. Friedrich disquieted the purpose of the subject operations is to “change the geographical look of the Palestinian exile issue”.

Now much than 20 months into what was meant to beryllium an exigency response, backing shortages person near UNRWA incapable to screen the immense needs of the displaced population. It has moved immoderate operations to support schools and basal wellness clinics functioning. With funds dwindling, the bureau has shifted to a “targeted approach”, leaving thousands without support.

Friedrich pointed to a emergence successful gender-based unit linked to the economical strain connected families and to increasing slump and anxiousness among displaced children observed by UNRWA’s psychosocial teams. “We’re already astatine the brink now,” helium declared.

Members of the Zbeidat household beryllium connected couches outside. The country they enactment successful is connected the near [Al Jazeera]

‘Everyone went their ain way’

While Hakim’s displacement plays retired successful the shadiness of the camp, the household of Khadija Zbeidat look their ain imminent eviction connected the outskirts of Tulkarem. They unrecorded successful the neighbourhood of Dhinnaba, wherever sparse houses are interspersed with greenhouses. They are incapable to spend a residence person to the metropolis centre.

As Khadija sat connected a sofa successful the mediate of the yard, her galore children and grandchildren ran past a tiny spot of plants she has planted – 1 of her fewer remaining joys. “I emotion plants,” she said. “We had galore flowers successful our location successful the camp. Having the plants present is each I person to consciousness similar myself,” she told Al Jazeera.

Khadija, a widow, shares a tiny spartan country with 9 household members, astir each children, on with a tiny bath and a room hardly large capable for 1 idiosyncratic to navigator in. A worn sofa takes up 1 corner. The ceiling is peeling supra it.

The country was fixed to them rent escaped by a comparative of Khadija’s brother-in-law aft they spent 4 months crammed into her daughter’s location with 9 different people. “It got truly cramped, the unit connected each other,” Zbeidat said. “And we became a load too.”

Khadija’s household was displaced successful January 2025 from the Tulkarem camp’s Haret al-Nadi section, a important portion of which has been destroyed, she said.

“The campy was excellent,” she said of their beingness before. “I swear, I privation they’d instrumentality america back. Everything was adjacent to us, beloved – … the closeness, that consciousness of belonging and the warmth, the institution and the neighbours.”

The memories that she cherishes astir dearly and that bring her to tears are of food: the stuffed grape leaves and the maamoul cookies made arsenic a neighbourhood unneurotic for Eid. This year, determination was nary of it.

“Nothing. No cookies,” she said. “Nobody adjacent had it successful them to bash thing immoderate more. Everyone went their ain mode – scattered.”

Like the Mar’i household and others, they were not allowed to bring their belongings during their abrupt displacement. Some residents person since been allowed to retrieve belongings erstwhile oregon doubly from their homes successful the camps, but overmuch of what they ain remains near behind. Khadija’s daughter-in-law astatine 1 constituent returned to the ruins of the campy – astatine the hazard of being changeable – to retrieve a doll near down that Khadija’s granddaughter Sandy would not halt crying about.

In Tulkarem, displaced families unrecorded either successful the poorest areas closest to the camp, similar the Mar’is, oregon connected the cheaper outskirts, similar the Zbeidats, remaining adjacent capable to the wellness and schooling services that UNRWA inactive provides. But adjacent a elemental travel to bargain groceries requires Khadija, who has nary car, to question 2km (1.2 miles).

At night, the household sits extracurricular alternatively than successful the stifling vigor of the poorly ventilated room, watching Israeli subject drones walk debased overhead. “What to do? We’re utilized to seeing them, to having them around, to them raiding houses,” Khadija said. “It doesn’t substance immoderate more.”

The subject raids that ever haunted beingness successful the exile camps person present travel to wherever the displaced refugees person fled to. “We don’t consciousness safe,” Khadija said. “Nor the kids. It’s dangerous. When they privation to spell retired somewhere, my bosom stays engaged until they travel back.”

The room and bath the Zbeidats person are successful the aforesaid country they slumber successful [Al Jazeera]

Waiting to beryllium kicked retired again

For months aft the displacement, landlords, relatives and shopkeepers absorbed overmuch of the shock, allowing families to enactment for escaped oregon bargain nutrient connected credit. But arsenic the exigency stretches to astir 2 years now, that informal information nett is fraying. The unit is felt peculiarly successful economically moribund Tulkarem, wherever galore families had relied connected jobs wrong Israel earlier Palestinian enactment permits were revoked aft the Hamas-led attacks successful confederate Israel and the commencement of Israel’s genocidal warfare successful Gaza successful October 2023.

The proprietor of the spot wherever Khadija’s household is staying precocious sent his sister to archer Khadija’s household to leave. “They deliberation it’s been excessively long,” Khadija explained. “They privation the land, to payment from the onshore and the room. … But wherever tin we get money, wherever to wage from? The rent is precise high, and we can’t spend it. We don’t cognize what to bash if she comes again and kicks america out.”

Hakim’s household is connected the brink of eviction too. Like others, helium received from UNRWA a one-time rental subsidy of 3,000 shekels ($985) and a abstracted 1,700-shekel ($560) multipurpose currency outgo for short-term assistance. “Every minute, I americium waiting for the landlord to footwear america out,” helium said.

Khadija’s household survives connected recognition from shopkeepers who cognize their concern and, for now, inactive widen it – but patience is wearing thin.

Hakim said this goodwill is collapsing: “You archer them: ‘Give maine a day, 2 days. Be diligent with me.’ They won’t carnivore it.”

As distant arsenic a instrumentality to her family’s lands successful 1948 feels now, Khadija inactive hopes to instrumentality to the campy 1 day. But she worries that her children whitethorn inherit an adjacent much precarious beingness than the 1 that preceded this latest dispossession – refugees for generations displaced yet again. “Only God knows what time volition bring us,” Khadija said.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is astatine hazard of suicide, these organisations may beryllium capable to help.