Palestinian refugee camp turned into 'ghost town'

Israel says military operation in West Bank is targeting Iranian-backed militant groups

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JENIN, West Bank - An Israeli military operation in Jenin has turned the West Bank refugee camp into what residents and some officials describe as a ghost town, causing destruction on a scale not seen there for over 20 years.

Israel's military says the large-scale raid is aimed at suppressing Iranian-backed militant groups in Jenin, in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Two weeks after the military operation began, Jenin is largely deserted.

Thousands of Palestinians have left their homes, taking only what they could carry, after Israel told them to leave through drones with loudspeakers.

After destroying roadways and other infrastructure, Israeli forces demolished multiple buildings at the weekend.

"We stayed at home until the drone came to us and started calling for us to evacuate the house and evacuate the neighbourhood because they wanted to carry out an explosion," said 39-year-old Khalil Huwail, a father of four who left with his family.

"We left in the clothes we were wearing. We couldn't carry anything, that was forbidden," he said. "The camp is completely empty."

After bulldozers and armoured vehicles were deployed near his home, he said, residents trudged away along rubble-strewn roadways to an assembly point where Red Crescent vehicles awaited.