Israel may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by forcibly displacing 32,000 Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps earlier this year, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The rights group called for investigations into top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and senior military commanders, urging prosecution if found responsible.

The expulsions, conducted in January and February during a military operation dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” represent the largest displacement in the West Bank since Israel occupied the territory in 1967. Thousands of Palestinians remain unable to return to their homes, with many living in overcrowded rentals, with relatives, or in public buildings. Some homes were reportedly bulldozed.

Israel defended the raids as necessary to combat militancy, claiming troops dismantled explosives and reduced attacks in the West Bank by 70 percent, though evidence was not provided. The military said operations aim to “reshape and stabilize” the area, including opening new access routes inside the camps.

Human Rights Watch criticized Israel for failing to justify the mass expulsions, restricting displaced residents from returning, and not providing shelter or humanitarian aid. The group said troops stormed homes, ransacked properties, and interrogated residents before displacing them. Satellite imagery analysis showed over 850 homes and buildings destroyed or heavily damaged.

Nadia Hardman, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, “With global attention focused on Gaza, Israeli forces have carried out war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank that should be investigated and prosecuted.”

The displaced camps, including Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Jenin, house millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants dating back to the 1948 Nakba, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel.