ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced in the past month by the Israeli military's current operation in the occupied West Bank. It's the largest displacement there in many decades. Israel now says it's intensifying what it calls counterterrorism efforts, and the people who have fled will not be allowed to return home. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: At a small school in a village outside of Jenin, in the northern area of the West Bank, children run around on a playground. It's a relatively normal scene except that these aren't the school's students.
TYSIR ODEH: We have here about 25 families.
LONSDORF: Tysir Odeh is the head of this school - usually a boarding school for the blind - but operations were suspended as Israeli military activity intensified in the area. Now, they're housing nearly a hundred people who fled the violence.
ODEH: This is a huge number of families.
LONSDORF: Odeh says they're full, but people still come every day to ask if they have room. For now, the families are mainly from one neighborhood - the Jenin refugee camp, which is where Israel's current military operation started more than a month ago and has been a focus since. But Odeh thinks it could just be a matter of time until the violence spreads further, maybe even to his village nearby.
ODEH: I am worried. I am worried.
LONSDORF: Down the hall, the school's kitchen is bustling. Women from the displaced families are gathered cooking.
(CROSSTALK)
LONSDORF: One group sits at a table in the middle of the kitchen, drinking tea and talking, including Sana'a al-Shraim, looking a little dejected, chin resting on her hand.
SANA’A AL-SHRAIM: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: She says she and her family, including her one-month-old granddaughter, fled their home as the Israeli military came in.
AL-SHRAIM: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: They had to leave suddenly, she says, taking very little with them.
AL-SHRAIM: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: She says she's thankful they have somewhere to stay that's free and safe, but she's never been displaced before. And it's hard.
AL-SHRAIM: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "I'm so stressed," she says. "I miss my house. I miss my neighborhood. I keep asking, when can we go home."
SAEDA IM AMEED: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Saeda Im Ameed, who's been sitting at the table, jumps in. She doesn't think anyone will be going home anytime soon.
IM AMEED: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: The Israelis want to displace people now. That's their objective, she says. They're emptying the land.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ISRAEL KATZ: (Speaking Hebrew).
LONSDORF: Last week, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz visited troops in the West Bank. In a video statement from there...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KATZ: (Speaking Hebrew).
LONSDORF: ...He said Israel will be, quote, "intensifying" its operation, which Israel says is for counterterrorism and has spread to several refugee camps. According to both the U.N. and the Israeli government, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from those camps, which have long been militant strongholds but are also built-up urban areas with apartment buildings, family housing, schools and hospitals. But now, few residents are left.
Over the weekend, Katz put out a statement saying that the Israeli military will remain in the camps for the coming year - a significant change in policy - and that Israel will, quote, "prevent the return of residents." Palestinian leaders reject this and fear it will lead to Israel annexing these parts of the West Bank, land that is internationally recognized as Palestinian but has been under Israeli military occupation for decades.
We drive into the eastern part of Jenin City. Even here, streets have been ripped up and buildings damaged in a recent Israeli military raid.
RANA ABU HATEB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Forty-four-year-old Rana abu Hatab is living in a small, borrowed basement apartment with her husband and five children after fleeing the violence. There are cots and blankets on the floor, along with two small couches.
HATEB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: She says they went back to their home in the camp a few weeks ago - a risky move - to try to get some belongings. They were shocked by what they found. Her 21-year-old daughter, Malak takes out her phone, pulls up a video.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HATEB: No, please.
LONSDORF: In it, the family walks through their three-story home. The structure is still standing, but barely. Walls and windows have been blasted. The inside is full of rubble. Furniture is broken.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HATEB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: The camera pans outside to show many of the surrounding buildings have been destroyed as well. The Israeli military says it's been dismantling buildings that it says are terrorist infrastructure.
HATEB: (Crying).
LONSDORF: Rana tears up watching the videos.
HATEB: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "You work so hard in your life to build something," she says, "and all of it goes in one second." She says they don't have money to rent or buy, and they can't stay here long-term. She doesn't know what they'll do. But for now, her main concern is finding more blankets for her kids. It's cold in the basement. And then, she says, they'll just take it one day at a time.
Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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