Latest news with #Tulkarem
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Displaced West Bank residents protest army demolitions
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 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 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 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.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel army bulldozers plough through homes at West Bank camps
In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the landscape has been transformed after Israeli army bulldozers ploughed through its two refugee camps in what the military called a hunt for Palestinian militants. The army gave thousands of displaced residents just a few hours to retrieve belongings from their homes before demolishing buildings and clearing wide avenues through the rubble. Now residents fear the clearances will erase not just buildings, but their own status as refugees from lands inhabited by generations of their ancestors in what is now Israel. The "right of return" to those lands, claimed by Palestinian refugees ever since the creation of Israel in 1948, remains one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The army said it would demolish 104 more buildings in the Tulkarem camp this week in the latest stage of an operation that it launched in January during a truce in the Gaza war, billing it as an intensive crackdown on several camps that are strongholds of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel. "We came back to the camp and found our house demolished. No one informed us, no one told us anything," said Abd al-Rahman Ajaj, 62, who had been hoping to collect his belongings on Wednesday. Born in Tulkarem camp after his parents fled what is now the Israeli city of Netanya, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) to the west, Ajaj said he had not foreseen the scale of the Israeli operation. - Thousands displaced - It 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. Vacating the camp after a warning of a raid, "we would usually come back two or three days later", Ajaj told AFP. Now left without a house, he echoed the sentiments of Palestinians of his parents' generation, who thought their own displacement in 1948 would also be temporary. "The last time, we left and never returned," he said. In Tulkarem, the Israeli army's bulldozers ploughed through the dense patchwork of narrow alleyways that had grown as Palestinian refugees settled in the area over the years. Three wide arteries of concrete now streak the side of Tulkarem camp, allowing easy access for the army. Piles of cinder blocks and concrete line the roadside like snowbanks after a plough's passage. - 'Eliminate the refugee issue' - Ajaj said the destruction had been gradual, drawn out over the course of the operation, which the army has dubbed "Iron Wall". Beyond the military value of wide access roads, many residents believe Israel is seeking to destroy the idea of the camps themselves, turning them into regular neighbourhoods of the cities they flank. Residents fear this would threaten their refugee status and their "right of return" to the land they or their forebears fled or were expelled from in 1948. The current Israeli government -- and particularly some of its far-right ministers, who demand the outright annexation of the West Bank -- are firmly opposed to this demand, which they see as a demographic threat to Israel's survival as a Jewish state. "The aim is clearly to erase the national symbolism of the refugee camp, to eliminate the refugee issue and the right of return," said Suleiman al-Zuheiri, an advocate for residents of nearby Nur Shams, Tulkarem's other refugee camp, where he also lives. Zuheiri's brother's house was destroyed last week by the bulldozers. "The scene was painful and tragic because a house is not just walls and a roof. It holds memories, dreams, hopes and very important belongings that we couldn't retrieve," he said. Each demolished building housed at least six families on three floors, he added. The land allocated to the camps was limited, so residents have had little choice but to build upwards to gain space, adding an extra storey with each new generation. - Explosions rock camp - Back at Tulkarem camp, 66-year-old Omar Owfi said he had managed to make two trips into the camp now occupied by Israeli soldiers to retrieve belongings on Wednesday. He feared becoming homeless if his home was demolished. "They don't care what the house is worth. All they care about is demolishing. We're the ones losing. We've lost everything," he told AFP. "They want to erase the camp -- to remove as many buildings as possible and leave just streets." He said he feared for his children and grandchildren, as they dispersed to live with various relatives. The Israeli supreme court froze the military order for mass demolitions in Tulkarem camp on Thursday, giving the state two months to answer a petition against them, said the Palestinian human rights group Adalah, which filed it. But the physical damage has already been done as the army's manhunt for militants continues. As residents retrieved mattresses, wardrobes and air conditioning units from the camp on Wednesday under the surveillance of Israeli troops, gunshots rang out through the streets. A loud explosion echoed across the city, followed by a column of dust rising as another building was apparently blown up, sending the smell of gunpowder wafting in the wind. lba/rlp/kir/smw/tc
France 24
4 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Israel army bulldozers plough through homes at West Bank camps
The army gave thousands of displaced residents just a few hours to retrieve belongings from their homes before demolishing buildings and clearing wide avenues through the rubble. Now residents fear the clearances will erase not just buildings, but their own status as refugees from lands inhabited by generations of their ancestors in what is now Israel. The "right of return" to those lands, claimed by Palestinian refugees ever since the creation of Israel in 1948, remains one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The army said it would demolish 104 more buildings in the Tulkarem camp this week in the latest stage of an operation that it launched in January during a truce in the Gaza war, billing it as an intensive crackdown on several camps that are strongholds of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel. "We came back to the camp and found our house demolished. No one informed us, no one told us anything," said Abd al-Rahman Ajaj, 62, who had been hoping to collect his belongings on Wednesday. Born in Tulkarem camp after his parents fled what is now the Israeli city of Netanya, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) to the west, Ajaj said he had not foreseen the scale of the Israeli operation. Thousands displaced It 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. Vacating the camp after a warning of a raid, "we would usually come back two or three days later", Ajaj told AFP. Now left without a house, he echoed the sentiments of Palestinians of his parents' generation, who thought their own displacement in 1948 would also be temporary. "The last time, we left and never returned," he said. In Tulkarem, the Israeli army's bulldozers ploughed through the dense patchwork of narrow alleyways that had grown as Palestinian refugees settled in the area over the years. Three wide arteries of concrete now streak the side of Tulkarem camp, allowing easy access for the army. Piles of cinder blocks and concrete line the roadside like snowbanks after a plough's passage. 'Eliminate the refugee issue' Ajaj said the destruction had been gradual, drawn out over the course of the operation, which the army has dubbed "Iron Wall". Beyond the military value of wide access roads, many residents believe Israel is seeking to destroy the idea of the camps themselves, turning them into regular neighbourhoods of the cities they flank. Residents fear this would threaten their refugee status and their "right of return" to the land they or their forebears fled or were expelled from in 1948. The current Israeli government -- and particularly some of its far-right ministers, who demand the outright annexation of the West Bank -- are firmly opposed to this demand, which they see as a demographic threat to Israel's survival as a Jewish state. "The aim is clearly to erase the national symbolism of the refugee camp, to eliminate the refugee issue and the right of return," said Suleiman al-Zuheiri, an advocate for residents of nearby Nur Shams, Tulkarem's other refugee camp, where he also lives. Zuheiri's brother's house was destroyed last week by the bulldozers. "The scene was painful and tragic because a house is not just walls and a roof. It holds memories, dreams, hopes and very important belongings that we couldn't retrieve," he said. Each demolished building housed at least six families on three floors, he added. The land allocated to the camps was limited, so residents have had little choice but to build upwards to gain space, adding an extra storey with each new generation. Explosions rock camp Back at Tulkarem camp, 66-year-old Omar Owfi said he had managed to make two trips into the camp now occupied by Israeli soldiers to retrieve belongings on Wednesday. He feared becoming homeless if his home was demolished. "They don't care what the house is worth. All they care about is demolishing. We're the ones losing. We've lost everything," he told AFP. "They want to erase the camp -- to remove as many buildings as possible and leave just streets." He said he feared for his children and grandchildren, as they dispersed to live with various relatives. The Israeli supreme court froze the military order for mass demolitions in Tulkarem camp on Thursday, giving the state two months to answer a petition against them, said the Palestinian human rights group Adalah, which filed it. But the physical damage has already been done as the army's manhunt for militants continues. As residents retrieved mattresses, wardrobes and air conditioning units from the camp on Wednesday under the surveillance of Israeli troops, gunshots rang out through the streets. A loud explosion echoed across the city, followed by a column of dust rising as another building was apparently blown up, sending the smell of gunpowder wafting in the wind.
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
‘We've lost everything': Bulldozers flatten West Bank camp in Israeli military push
TULKAREM, July 6 — In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the landscape has been transformed after Israeli army bulldozers ploughed through its two refugee camps in what the military called a hunt for Palestinian militants. The army gave thousands of displaced residents just a few hours to retrieve belongings from their homes before demolishing buildings and clearing wide avenues through the rubble. Now residents fear the clearances will erase not just buildings, but their own status as refugees from lands inhabited by generations of their ancestors in what is now Israel. The 'right of return' to those lands, claimed by Palestinian refugees ever since the creation of Israel in 1948, remains one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The army said it would demolish 104 more buildings in the Tulkarem camp this week in the latest stage of an operation that it launched in January during a truce in the Gaza war, billing it as an intensive crackdown on several camps that are strongholds of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel. 'We came back to the camp and found our house demolished. No one informed us, no one told us anything,' said Abd al-Rahman Ajaj, 62, who had been hoping to collect his belongings on Wednesday. Born in Tulkarem camp after his parents fled what is now the Israeli city of Netanya, about 12km to the west, Ajaj said he had not foreseen the scale of the Israeli operation. An Israeli military bulldozer demolishes a home at the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp, east of Tulkarem, in the Israeli occupied West Bank June 23, 2025, during an ongoing military operation in the north of the Palestinian West Bank. — AFP pic Thousands displaced It 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. Vacating the camp after a warning of a raid, 'we would usually come back two or three days later', Ajaj told AFP. Now left without a house, he echoed the sentiments of Palestinians of his parents' generation, who thought their own displacement in 1948 would also be temporary. 'The last time, we left and never returned,' he said. In Tulkarem, the Israeli army's bulldozers ploughed through the dense patchwork of narrow alleyways that had grown as Palestinian refugees settled in the area over the years. Three wide arteries of concrete now streak the side of Tulkarem camp, allowing easy access for the army. Piles of cinder blocks and concrete line the roadside like snowbanks after a plough's passage. Israeli soldiers look on as Palestinians carry their belongings after being ordered to leave their homes during an Israeli operation in the Tulkarem camp for refugees in the north-west of the occupied West Bank May 2, 2025. — AFP pic 'Eliminate the refugee issue' Ajaj said the destruction had been gradual, drawn out over the course of the operation, which the army has dubbed 'Iron Wall'. Beyond the military value of wide access roads, many residents believe Israel is seeking to destroy the idea of the camps themselves, turning them into regular neighbourhoods of the cities they flank. Residents fear this would threaten their refugee status and their 'right of return' to the land they or their forebears fled or were expelled from in 1948. The current Israeli government — and particularly some of its far-right ministers, who demand the outright annexation of the West Bank — are firmly opposed to this demand, which they see as a demographic threat to Israel's survival as a Jewish state. 'The aim is clearly to erase the national symbolism of the refugee camp, to eliminate the refugee issue and the right of return,' said Suleiman al-Zuheiri, an advocate for residents of nearby Nur Shams, Tulkarem's other refugee camp, where he also lives. Zuheiri's brother's house was destroyed last week by the bulldozers. 'The scene was painful and tragic because a house is not just walls and a roof. It holds memories, dreams, hopes and very important belongings that we couldn't retrieve,' he said. Each demolished building housed at least six families on three floors, he added. The land allocated to the camps was limited, so residents have had little choice but to build upwards to gain space, adding an extra storey with each new generation. An Israeli soldier gestures as Palestinians carry their belongings after being ordered to leave their homes during an Israeli operation in the Tulkarem camp for refugees in the north-west of the occupied West Bank on May 2, 2025. — AFP pic Explosions rock camp Back at Tulkarem camp, 66-year-old Omar Owfi said he had managed to make two trips into the camp now occupied by Israeli soldiers to retrieve belongings on Wednesday. He feared becoming homeless if his home was demolished. 'They don't care what the house is worth. All they care about is demolishing. We're the ones losing. We've lost everything,' he told AFP. 'They want to erase the camp — to remove as many buildings as possible and leave just streets.' He said he feared for his children and grandchildren, as they dispersed to live with various relatives. The Israeli supreme court froze the military order for mass demolitions in Tulkarem camp on Thursday, giving the state two months to answer a petition against them, said the Palestinian human rights group Adalah, which filed it. But the physical damage has already been done as the army's manhunt for militants continues. As residents retrieved mattresses, wardrobes and air conditioning units from the camp on Wednesday under the surveillance of Israeli troops, gunshots rang out through the streets. A loud explosion echoed across the city, followed by a column of dust rising as another building was apparently blown up, sending the smell of gunpowder wafting in the wind. — AFP
Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Israel army bulldozers plow through homes at West Bank camps
TULKAREM: In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the landscape has been transformed after Israeli army bulldozers plowed through its two refugee camps in what the military called a hunt for Palestinian army gave thousands of displaced residents just a few hours to retrieve belongings from their homes before demolishing buildings and clearing wide avenues through the residents fear the clearances will erase not just buildings, but their own status as refugees from lands inhabited by generations of their ancestors in what is now 'right of return' to those lands, claimed by Palestinian refugees ever since the creation of Israel in 1948, remains one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian army said it would demolish 104 more buildings in the Tulkarem camp this week in the latest stage of an operation that it launched in January during a truce in the Gaza war, billing it as an intensive crackdown on several camps that are strongholds of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel.'We came back to the camp and found our house demolished. No one informed us, no one told us anything,' said Abd Al-Rahman Ajaj, 62, who had been hoping to collect his belongings on in Tulkarem camp after his parents fled what is now the Israeli city of Netanya, about 12 kilometers (seven miles) to the west, Ajaj said he had not foreseen the scale of the Israeli 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 the camp after a warning of a raid, 'we would usually come back two or three days later,' Ajaj told left without a house, he echoed the sentiments of Palestinians of his parents' generation, who thought their own displacement in 1948 would also be temporary.'The last time, we left and never returned,' he Tulkarem, the Israeli army's bulldozers plowed through the dense patchwork of narrow alleyways that had grown as Palestinian refugees settled in the area over the wide arteries of concrete now streak the side of Tulkarem camp, allowing easy access for the of cinder blocks and concrete line the roadside like snowbanks after a plow's said the destruction had been gradual, drawn out over the course of the operation, which the army has dubbed 'Iron Wall.'Beyond the military value of wide access roads, many residents believe Israel is seeking to destroy the idea of the camps themselves, turning them into regular neighborhoods of the cities they fear this would threaten their refugee status and their 'right of return' to the land they or their forebears fled or were expelled from in current Israeli government — and particularly some of its far-right ministers, who demand the outright annexation of the West Bank — are firmly opposed to this demand, which they see as a demographic threat to Israel's survival as a Jewish state.'The aim is clearly to erase the national symbolism of the refugee camp, to eliminate the refugee issue and the right of return,' said Suleiman Al-Zuheiri, an advocate for residents of nearby Nur Shams, Tulkarem's other refugee camp, where he also brother's house was destroyed last week by the bulldozers.'The scene was painful and tragic because a house is not just walls and a roof. It holds memories, dreams, hopes and very important belongings that we couldn't retrieve,' he demolished building housed at least six families on three floors, he land allocated to the camps was limited, so residents have had little choice but to build upwards to gain space, adding an extra story with each new at Tulkarem camp, 66-year-old Omar Owfi said he had managed to make two trips into the camp now occupied by Israeli soldiers to retrieve belongings on feared becoming homeless if his home was demolished.'They don't care what the house is worth. All they care about is demolishing. We're the ones losing. We've lost everything,' he told AFP.'They want to erase the camp — to remove as many buildings as possible and leave just streets.'He said he feared for his children and grandchildren, as they dispersed to live with various Israeli supreme court froze the military order for mass demolitions in Tulkarem camp on Thursday, giving the state two months to answer a petition against them, said the Palestinian human rights group Adalah, which filed the physical damage has already been done as the army's manhunt for militants residents retrieved mattresses, wardrobes and air conditioning units from the camp on Wednesday under the surveillance of Israeli troops, gunshots rang out through the streets.A loud explosion echoed across the city, followed by a column of dust rising as another building was apparently blown up, sending the smell of gunpowder wafting in the wind.
