Displaced West Bank residents protest army demolitions
The two refugee camps adjacent to the northern city have seen dozens of residential buildings torn down by Zionist military in recent months, with more slated for destruction in the coming weeks. Zionist entity says its months-long operation in the territory's north is aimed at cracking down on several camps that are strongholds of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Zionist entity.
'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 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, a longtime stronghold of Palestinian militants, and quickly spread to other cities, including Tulkarem, displacing at least 40,000 people, according to UN figures. — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kuwait Times
4 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Worker critical after US immigration raid on California farm
CAMARILLO, US: A farm worker was in critical condition on Friday, his family said, after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California that resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants and clashes with protesters. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents 'slimeballs' and said they should be arrested. In another development, a district judge ordered a halt to 'roving patrols' in Los Angeles by federal agents who were detaining suspected undocumented migrants without probable cause and denying them due process. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ordered an end to the arrests, which she said were being made 'based upon race alone,' on whether a person was speaking Spanish or English with an accent or because of their place of work. Trump's remarks and the court order come a day after a chaotic raid on a cannabis plantation in Ventura County some 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles left one farm worker critically injured. The United Farm Workers labor union had said in an X post on Friday that the worker had 'died of injuries they sustained as a result of yesterday's immigration enforcement action.' But the family on a GoFundMe page said he was in critical condition and unlikely to survive. 'He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 30ft (9 meters). My uncle's life is in critical condition; doctors have told us he won't make it. His injuries are catastrophic. His heart is still beating.' The Ventura County Medical Center, which told ABC News that he was in critical condition, did not respond to AFP calls for more details. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said he was never in custody. 'Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,' McLaughlin said. '(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.' The DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued 'from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.' 'I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,' he said. Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of migrants, has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks. The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against roundups of undocumented migrants by federal agents. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far. The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks. 'We've been here since six this morning asking questions but they're not giving us any information,' said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday. 'I just want to know how he's doing,' Munoz said. 'Bring him back to me and if it's time for us to leave, we'll leave. 'The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.' — AFP
Kuwait Times
10 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Bedouins use solar to stake claim to land in Zionist entity
TIRABIN AL-SANA: At the end of a dusty road in southern Zionist entity, beyond a bedouin village of unfinished houses and the shiny dome of a mosque, a field of solar panels gleams in the hot desert sun. Tirabin Al-Sana in Zionist entity's Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with a Zionist solar energy company to build the installation. The deal has helped provide jobs for the community as well as promote cleaner, cheaper energy for the country, as the power produced is pumped into the national grid. Earlier this month, the Al-Ghanami family in the town of Abu Krinat a little further south inaugurated a similar field of solar panels. Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hardline government officials. Demolition orders issued by Zionist authorities plague bedouin villages, threatening the traditionally semi-nomadic communities with forced eviction. But Yosef Abramowitz, co-chair of the non-profit organization Shamsuna, said solar field projects help them to stake a more definitive claim. 'It secures their land rights forever,' he told AFP. 'It's the only way to settle the bedouin land issue and secure 100 percent renewable energy,' he added, calling it a 'win, win'. For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it. Land recognition Roughly 300,000 bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin Al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognized by the government. Villages that are not formally recognized are fighting the biggest battle to stay on the land. Far-right groups, some backed by the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stepped up efforts in the past two years to drive these families away. A sharp increase in home demolitions has left the communities vulnerable and whole families without a roof over their heads. 'Since 2023, more than 8,500 buildings have been demolished in these unrecognized villages,' Marwan Abu Frieh, from the legal aid organization Adalah, told AFP at a recent protest in Beersheva, the largest city in the Negev. 'Within these villages, thousands of families are now living out in the open, an escalation the Negev has not witnessed in perhaps the last two decades.' Tribes just want to 'live in peace and dignity', following their distinct customs and traditions, he said. Gil Yasur, who also works with Shamsuna developing critical infrastructure in bedouin villages, said land claims issues were common among bedouins across the Negev. Families who include a solar project on their land, however, stand a better chance of securing it, he added. 'Then everyone will benefit—the landowners, the country, the Negev,' he said. 'This is the best way to move forward to a green economy.' Positive energy In Um Batin, a recognized village, residents are using solar energy in a different way—to power a local kindergarten all year round. Until last year, the village relied on power from a diesel generator that polluted the air and the ground where the children played. Now, a hulking solar panel shields the children from the sun as its surface sucks up the powerful rays, keeping the kindergarten in full working order. 'It was not clean or comfortable here before,' said Nama Abu Kaf, who works in the kindergarten. 'Now we have air conditioning and a projector so the children can watch television.' Hani Al-Hawashleh, who oversees the project on behalf of Shamsuna, said the solar energy initiative for schools and kindergartens was 'very positive'. 'Without power you can't use all kinds of equipment such as projectors, lights in the classrooms and, on the other hand, it saves costs and uses clean energy,' he said. The projects are part of a pilot scheme run by Shamsuna. Asked if there was interest in expanding to other educational institutions that rely on polluting generators, he said there were challenges and bureaucracy but he hoped to see more. 'We need people to collaborate with us to move this forward,' he said, adding that he would 'love to see a solar energy system in every village'.—AFP
Kuwait Times
13 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
More than 20 civilians killed in Myanmar air strike on monastery
BANGKOK: More than 20 civilians, including children, were killed after a recent air strike on a monastery in central Myanmar, an anti-junta fighter and a resident told AFP Saturday. Myanmar has been consumed by civil war since the military ousted a democratic government in 2021, and central Sagaing region has been particularly hard-hit, with the junta pummeling villages with air strikes targeting armed groups. The most recent occurred around 1 am Friday in Lin Ta Lu village when 'the monastery hall where internally displaced people were staying' was hit with an air strike, said an anti-junta fighter, who requested anonymity for safety reasons. He told AFP that 22 people were killed, including three children, while two were wounded and remained in critical condition at the hospital. 'They had thought it was safe to stay at a Buddhist monastery,' the anti-junta fighter said. 'But they were bombed anyway.' Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. A local resident confirmed that the monastery hall was 'completely destroyed', adding that he saw some bodies loaded into a car and transported to a cemetery at dawn on Friday after the air strike. He said when he went to the cemetery to take photos to help with identifying the dead, he counted 22 bodies. 'Many of the bodies had head wounds or were torn apart. It was sad to see,' said the resident, who also asked to remain anonymous. Sagaing region was the epicenter of a devastating magnitude-7.7 quake in March, which left nearly 3,800 people dead and tens of thousands homeless. After the quake, there was a purported truce between the junta and armed groups, but air strikes and fighting have continued, according to conflict monitors. In May, an air strike on a school in the village of Oe Htein Kwin in Sagaing killed 20 students and two teachers. Meanwhile, ,ore than 500 civilians and soldiers fled conflict in Myanmar and crossed into Thailand on Saturday after an assault by ethnic fighters on a military base, the Thai army said. Myanmar has been mired in civil conflict since a military coup in 2021, with the junta battling a coalition of ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance forces. Saturday's attack by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) targeted a military base in Kayin state at around 3 pm local time (0800 GMT), Thailand's military said in a statement. 'The Myanmar soldiers attempted to resist and called for supporting firepower to defend their position but were ultimately unable to hold the line,' it said. One hundred Myanmar soldiers and 467 civilians had crossed into Thailand on Saturday, where Thai military and police disarmed them and provided treatment and humanitarian aid, officials said. Thai forces have ramped up patrols along the border in western Tak province to prevent what officials described as a potential 'violation of sovereignty by foreign armed forces'. Saw Thamain Tun, a leader of the KNLA's political wing, confirmed there had been fighting near the border and said that joint forces had 'seized some front posts' from the army. 'Some (Myanmar troops) defected to our joint forces, but some of them ran into Thailand,' he told AFP. Armed groups from the Karen ethnic minority have long challenged the military and now play a key role in resisting junta control over border zones. Myanmar's civil war has caused huge waves of population displacement, with 81,000 refugees or asylum seekers from the country currently living in Thailand, according to United Nations figures.—AFP
