Israeli forces have been carrying out a deadly military operation in the West Bank since January, particularly in Tulkarem [Getty/file photo]
More than a hundred Palestinians displaced from refugee camps by an ongoing Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank gathered in the city of Tulkarem on Wednesday to protest the army’s recent home demolitions.
The two refugee camps adjacent to the northern city have seen dozens of residential buildings torn down by Israel’s military in recent months, with more slated for destruction in the coming weeks.
Israel claims its months-long operation in the territory’s north is aimed at cracking down on several camps that are strongholds of Palestinian resistance groups fighting against Israel.
“Today is a clear message from the community inside the camps demanding their right – the right to return to the camp and to stop the assault on the camps, the destruction of homes,” said Nihaya al-Jundi, a displaced woman from Tulkarem camp who took part in the protest.
Demonstrators also demanded support from Palestinian authorities and the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which has historically provided health, education and other services to camp residents.
Women and children from the Tulkarem camp held signs calling for an end to the demolitions and for housing allowances to support the displaced.
“The protest was about demanding legitimate rights – human rights, social rights – such as continuous relief aid, housing, medical treatment and medicine, and for UNRWA and the Palestinian government to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid,” Faisal Salama, head of Tulkarem camp’s popular committee, told AFP.
Um Moataz Abu Shala, a displaced woman from Nur Shams, Tulkarem’s other refugee camp, said she first and foremost wanted to return home.
“We don’t want food aid, donations, caravans or any handouts. We want to return to our land in Nur Shams,” she told AFP.
The army said last week it would demolish 104 more buildings in the Tulkarem camp in the latest stage of an operation dubbed ‘Operation Iron Wall’, that it launched in January during a truce in the Gaza war.
The military operation began with a raid on the northern West Bank city of Jenin and quickly spread to other cities, including Tulkarem, displacing at least 40,000 people, according to UN figures.
Israel has waged violence in the West Bank in parallel with the war in Gaza, killing nearly 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied territory since 7 October, 2023.
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