{ "archive_path": "archive/1787690926.539959", "base_url": "forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin", "basename": "", "bookmarked_date": "2026-08-25 20:48", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=forward.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": "forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/index.html" }, "domain": "forward.com", "extension": "", "hash": "R43BVT7446KPAQRB3P3N", "history": { "archive_org": [], "dom": [], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "60", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=forward.com" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:02.838668+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:02.340102+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--head", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:03.290898+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:02.844305+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [], "media": [], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js", "https://forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/", "--format=text" ], "cmd_version": "1.0.0", "end_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:40.779436+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "ArchiveError: Mercury was not able to get article text from the URL", "pwd": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:39.426558+00:00", "status": "failed" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpqk9d8m9p", "https://forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:39.419410+00:00", "index_texts": [ "Palestinians protest after Israeli soldiers blocked the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on February 9, 2026, demanding to be allowed to return to their homes from which they were expelled during an Israeli army operation. Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThis article was produced through a collaboration with Shomrim, an investigative outlet based in Israel.The Israel Defense Forces refers to the systematic demolition of hundreds of homes in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps as \u201cspatial restructuring,\u201d a bureaucratic euphemism for operations designed to create maneuvering space. For years, Israel has used house demolitions in the West Bank as a punitive measure against terrorists, but over the past 18 months, the purpose behind the policy has changed: Israel is now razing homes in order to widen roads inside the camps, which will allow for the easier passage of military vehicles.\nThe destruction is part of a trend whereby Israel is importing combat tactics it has used in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon to the occupied West Bank. The main difference is the Israeli settlers \u2014 who engaged in persistent efforts to expel Palestinian populations first from Israeli-administered areas of the West Bank, and now from zones under the control of the Palestinian Authority.\nIn the aftermath of Oct. 7, the IDF distributed thousands of firearms to the settlers, some of whom were recruited as \u201cregional defense soldiers.\u201d As a result, IDF weapons have been used in many of the violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank. Last month, N12 News reported that the IDF will scale back the number of regional defense soldiers \u2014 and that Shin Bet will vet the recruits.\nBut even without the settlers \u2014 looking solely from the perspective of the IDF\u2019s military activity \u2014 a significant change is underway. From the IDF\u2019s perspective, the West Bank is turning from a place that is home to millions of Palestinians who are not involved in any hostile activity, into a combat zone. And combat zones can be \u201crestructured\u201d according to the military\u2019s needs, even if that includes the demolition of entire neighborhoods or population transfer.\nAccording to the IDF, the change was actually sparked by the Palestinian side. Even before Oct. 7 2023, the army claims, Palestinian terrorist organizations were setting up battalions \u2014 larger fighting units that held training exercises and activities based on an organized military doctrine. In July 2023, the IDF responded by launching Operation Home and Garden in the Jenin refugee camp \u2014 the largest Israeli military operation since Defensive Shield in 2002. It was a short, targeted maneuver that lasted just two days.\nIn the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre, the IDF described an uptick in the activity of these battalions, which led, in August 2024, to Operation Summer Camps, during which the army entered the refugee camps in Tulkarm and killed the commander of a local battalion. The same month, as Israel Hayom reporter Amir Ettinger revealed, Israel Katz \u2014 then minister of foreign affairs and now minister of defense \u2014 made the IDF\u2019s intentions quite clear: \u201cThe refugee camps are the root of the evil,\u201d he said during a closed-door meeting with leaders of the Yesha Council. \u201cThey are not controlled by the Palestinian Authority, but by Iran. The Jenin refugee camp must be cleared of its residents and dealt with the same way we dealt with the Gaza Strip.\u201d\nIn January 2025, Katz\u2019s words became reality when the IDF launched Operation Iron Wall. According to figures issued by the military, 208 homes were destroyed in the Jenin refugee camp and 234 in the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps. The goal was to allow armored Israeli vehicles to move within the camp. Satellite images leave no room for doubt as to the extent of the devastation.\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\nThe IDF currently has troops stationed permanently inside the refugee camps and is not allowing the tens of thousands of residents who left to return to their homes. Some Palestinians who were expelled have petitioned to Israel\u2019s High Court of Justice, via the Association of Civil Rights in Israel and attorneys Hila Sharon and Reut Shaer. In February, the IDF told the court that it \u201cdoes not intend to maintain a permanent presence in the refugee camps and, once the goals of the operation have been fully achieved, the current operation in the camps will be ended.\u201d At the same time, the IDF added that \u201cthe necessary operational conditions have not yet been fully met.\u201d\n\u201cWe are a household of six people, including four children,\u201d says Bassem \u2014 not his real name \u2014 who lived on the outskirts of the Tulkarm refugee camp and who was expelled around a year ago. \u201cThey gave us 10 minutes to leave. And that was that. Since then, we haven\u2019t been home.\u201d\nAccording to Bassem, despite the IDF\u2019s claim that it issues individual permits for residents to visit their homes, his request has been denied. He did manage to get access to the home one time \u2014 without permission \u2014 in the early hours of the morning. \u201cAll of the furniture was broken. The doors were open, there were cats and dogs inside, the trees in the yard had no fruit. Everything was dead. And I regret going to see it. I don\u2019t have any security charges against me and I have committed no crime. Why would they do that to my home? And even if they do give me a permit \u2014 there\u2019s no furniture left.\u201d\nBassem and his family now live in rented accommodation. The financial assistance they got earlier is dwindling and he cannot see any kind of future. \u201cUNRWA gave us some money at the start and a few cartons of oil, rice and things like that. Now, 80% of the aid has ended. In my opinion, there\u2019s not even a 1% chance we\u2019ll ever get back to our home.\u201d\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n\nDelivering a message\n\u201cSpatial restructuring\u201d is not a new concept, but, in the West Bank, its meaning has changed. In the past, it mainly referred to roadblocks designed to control the movement of Palestinian and Israeli vehicles and to allow the Israeli authorities to impose a military closure at will. In the past year it has taken on a new significance: the destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure.\nFor example, in August last year, Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, the head of the Central Command, ordered the uprooting of thousands of Palestinian olive trees from an area of about 300 dunams (74 acres) belonging to the village of Al-Mughayyir, following a shooting attack in which a Jewish Israeli was lightly wounded. \u201cEvery village and every enemy must know that if they carry out an attack against the [Israeli] residents, they will pay a heavy price. They will experience a curfew, they will experience a siege, and they will experience restructuring operations,\u201d Bluth said. \u201cWe are now bearing down on this village, which has been responsible for quite a few attacks lately. We will also deliver this message to the village.\u201d\nSimilar measures were also taken after the terror attack in May 2025 in which 30-year-old Tzeela Gez was shot dead while on her way to the maternity hospital to give birth. The IDF demolished homes in the adjacent village of Burkin overlooking Route 446 \u2014 including a four-story apartment block.\nAnother indication of the change in the IDF\u2019s approach is the increase in the number of Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank since Oct. 7. According to data released by the Israeli human rights group B\u2019Tselem, 478 and 474 Palestinians were killed by IDF fire in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In 2025, that figure dropped to 221. These have been by far the most deadly years for Palestinians in the West Bank since the early 2000s, at the height of the second intifada. Figures issued by the IDF\u2019s Central Command show a similar trend.\nOne of the reasons for this increase is the order issued by Bluth \u2014 which was revealed last year by Haaretz \u2014 that expanded open-fire orders in the West Bank. Here, too, the IDF is importing its operating tactics from the Gaza Strip. The instructions appear to reflect a broader change in the IDF\u2019s combat doctrine, possibly influenced by the fact that many of its soldiers also fought in Gaza.\n\u201cA lot of things have changed,\u201d says Meir \u2014 not his real name \u2014 an officer in the reserves who served for many months in the West Bank before and after Oct. 7. \u201cI\u2019m not sure whether this is something imported from another region, or rather that the security reality has simply changed. Once October 7 happened, it was understood that we can no longer just take it. So, we\u2019re beefing up security: adding posts, bringing back patrols \u2014 every patrol that was ever cut has been brought back and every patrol that never existed before has been added.\u201d\nMeir claims that the rules of engagement have not been changed and insists that \u201cno one is firing indiscriminately.\u201d At the same time, he adds: \u201cIt\u2019s true that there was an understanding that we have to respond more forcefully. Before October 7, people were less eager to use firearms; afterwards, the IDF suddenly remembered that you can\u2019t fight terrorism with the foul odor of tear gas. We are given weapons so that we can use them. When there was a need \u2014 we used them. There was a long period of time when we were afraid to shoot, when even shooting in the air would mean that all hell broke loose. You shoot your gun \u2014 that\u2019s what it\u2019s for. We don\u2019t walk around with our weapons slung over our shoulders just because it looks good.\u201d\nMeir also believes that the change is primarily a response to Palestinian terror. \u201cThe Palestinians responded very strongly to October 7. There were Hamas flags, rallies \u2014 even violence. It was something out of the ordinary. So, we used the means at our disposal to quiet it down. The Palestinians did things we hadn\u2019t seen before \u2014 three armed men tried to infiltrate Adora [a settlement northwest of Hebron], for example, and there were bomb-making factories. We found crazy amounts of terrorist infrastructure.\u201d\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n\n\u2018There\u2019s a problem here. We\u2019ll pay the price\u2019\nMaj.-Gen. (Res.) Gadi Shamni, a former Central Command chief, sees things differently. \u201cIt\u2019s all a question of proportionality,\u201d he tells Shomrim. \u201cThere has been a significant increase in the threat level \u2014 a lot of underbelly IEDs and all of that organization [of Palestinian battalions]. That said, October 7 and everything that\u2019s happened since, along with the footage coming out of Gaza, ultimately mean that in a lot of places [the IDF] is sometimes using a ton of force \u2014 more than is always necessary. There are some sensitivities which, in the past, [the IDF] treated very seriously. Today, those sensitivities have disappeared \u2014 and that\u2019s not a good thing.\u201d\n\u201cI have spoken to soldiers and officers, young and old, who used to see things very differently,\u201d Shamni adds. \u201cToday, what they say is: \u2018Take no chances \u2014 shoot at everything.\u2019 This is a problematic approach and the IDF, at some stage, will have to take control of the situation \u2014 because we will end up paying a price. Once, officers dealt with these sensitivities, they briefed their soldiers on how to treat civilians, how to behave in sensitive areas. Today, the lower-ranking soldiers are unaware of any of this, because nobody talks to them. Everything is black or white. There\u2019s no middle ground. And that\u2019s a problem when you\u2019re operating in a civilian environment.\u201d\n\u201c[The principle of] proportionality has vanished,\u201d he adds. \u201cWhen you talk about proportionality, you are told, \u2018Now\u2019s the time to kick ass.\u2019 There is also intense pressure from the settlements, the government, from [ministers] Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Ultimately, the IDF carries out the government\u2019s policies. You can see what Smotrich is doing on the ground and it is incumbent on the IDF to execute those policies. We have a problem here.\u201d\nIDF: Freedom of action remains a necessary condition for regional security\nThe IDF submitted the following response: \u201cThe intensive efforts of the IDF to thwart terrorism in Judea and Samaria began before the outbreak of the war. Terrorist infrastructure developed in the refugee camps of the northern Samaria region, from which attacks were launched. In light of this, the IDF launched Operation Iron Wall in January 2025, during which operational and engineering activities were carried out to enable freedom of action for security forces, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and prevent terrorist organizations from establishing a presence.\n\u201cIn addition to these operational activities, there has been a decrease of about 80% in the volume of terror attacks in northern Samaria recently. Most of the measures implemented during the operation, including the clearing of access routes and other engineering work, were also reviewed by the Supreme Court in response to petitions that were subsequently dismissed following the submission of a formal response and a hearing attended by all parties.\n\u201cVegetation clearing is carried out according to established protocols, with the approval of relevant authorities in Central Command and based on operational requirements. These measures are designed to ensure the safety of road users, protect travel routes and prevent infiltrations and terrorist attacks. Every operation is preceded by a professional assessment. The IDF operates in accordance with the law and its decisions are subject to judicial review. Security forces act against structures built without authorization, prioritizing enforcement against illegal construction near roads that poses a security risk. Such enforcement actions are carried out under the planning and building laws applicable in the region.\n\u201cIDF forces continue to operate throughout Judea and Samaria, focusing on targeted counterterrorism efforts to ensure the safety of citizens. The freedom of action maintained by the IDF in terrorist hubs across northern Samaria remains a necessary condition for regional security.\u201d\nHello, fellow Forward reader! I\u2019m Marge Magner, a Forward reader and board member.I remember my grandmother reading the Yiddish Forverts in our living room.I wonder what she\u2019d make of today\u2019s media environment. Every day there\u2019s more news that affects American Jews but fewer newsrooms and resources to cover that news with truth, honesty and care.My grandmother trusted the Forward, and all these years later, I do too. That\u2019s why I\u2019m matching all gifts up to $36,000.\n\n \n Support the Forward this holiday season" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:37.119654+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:37.114810+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "\u2018Spatial restructuring\u2019 razes homes in West Bank refugee camps \u2013 The Forward", "pwd": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:37.081014+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--backup-converted", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--timeout=60", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--warc-file=/data/archive/1787690926.539959/warc/1787690943", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "https://forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:37.075356+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/index.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-25T20:49:03.297767+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "\u2018Spatial restructuring\u2019 razes homes in West Bank refugee camps \u2013 The Forward", "warc": null, "wget": "forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/index.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1787690926.539959", "newest_archive_date": "2026-08-25T20:49:39.426558+00:00", "num_failures": 1, "num_outputs": 5, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-08-25T20:49:02.340102+00:00", "path": "/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "2bec8f19-7772-4175-a101-bb38841fc19f", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1787690926-import.txt" ], "tags": null, "tags_str": "", "timestamp": "1787690926.539959", "title": "\u2018Spatial restructuring\u2019 razes homes in West Bank refugee camps \u2013 The Forward", "updated": "2026-08-25T20:49:02.339556+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-08-25 20:49", "url": "https://forward.com/news/831644/spatial-restructuring-west-bank-idf-jenin/" }