Displaced Palestinians in the West Bank face mounting debt and hardship
Palestinians displaced from Tulkarem refugee camp and other West Bank areas are falling deeper into poverty and debt. Hakim Mar'i, who has a severe leg injury and cannot work, lives without electricity and has faced eviction while considering suicide. His family's former camp home has been reduced to rubble after the Israeli military emptied the camp.
Hakim Mar’i’s leg wound dates to 2019, when he worked as a labourer in Israel; it worsened after soldiers beat him during his family’s removal from Tulkarem camp. Diabetes and other untreated illnesses add to his inability to work. Since January 2025, the family has relocated four times and now shelters with four children under 15.
His mother, Salwa, recalls a four-storey home built over generations after 1948 displacement from al-Khudayra. Israeli forces razed it for a road through the emptied camp. More than 20 months after Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps were cleared, renewed closed military zone orders still block returns.
Displaced families in the West Bank, especially children, older relatives and people with untreated injuries or chronic illness, may face prolonged housing insecurity, debt and psychological strain. Host communities and local services could come under added pressure as relatives and neighbours absorb those forced to move repeatedly. The account may also shape public understanding of how military displacement and destroyed homes affect health and family stability, though its wider social impact will depend on access to aid, medical care and durable shelter.