TULKAREM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center) For the 174th consecutive day, Israeli occupation forces have maintained a sweeping campaign of destruction and forced displacement in Tulkarem City and its two refugee camps, Tulkarem and Nur Shams, while the international community still turns a blind eye to such Israeli violations.
According to local sources, the IOF continued this morning to carry out demolition and detonation operations in Tulkarem refugee camp, further spreading scenes of rubble and destruction.
In recent weeks, the IOF focused its demolitions in the neighborhoods of Al-Murabba’ah, Abul-Foul, al-Shuhada, and al-Hamam, where hundreds of families have lost their homes entirely.
Meanwhile, the besieged Nur Shams refugee camp is also seeing a severe Israeli escalation, with Israeli forces deliberately setting fire to citizens’ homes, especially in the Jabel an-Nasr area.
Today’s destruction operations in Tulkarem and Nur Shams are part of the Israeli occupation’s plan to destroy the entire camps of Tulkarem and Nur Shams. Thousands of families have been forced by the Israeli army to leave the camps during this ongoing demolition campaign.
This ongoing aggression has resulted in the forced displacement of more than 5,000 families comprising over 25,000 individuals, while official statistics report that more than 600 buildings were completely destroyed and over 2,500 homes sustained partial damage. Additionally, the IOF has completely sealed off the entrances of the two camps, turning them into nearly lifeless areas and opening fire at anyone attempting to reach their homes.
In Tulkarem City, the IOF continues to carry out around-the-clock military operations in its markets and main streets, raiding homes and stores and restricting the movement of citizens and vehicles.
The IOF has already turned the city’s Nablus street into a military base after seizing several residential buildings there and forcibly displacing their inhabitants, particularly in its northern part, which is near Tulkarem camp.
In a separate development, the IOF set up today makeshift checkpoints on roads leading to the entrances of some villages around the city, which obstructed the movement of local residents and vehicles.
Israeli soldiers reportedly detained a citizen for several hours at a checkpoint near Shawawra town, east of Tulkarem, before releasing him later.
