The Israeli army seen demolishing homes in the Nur Shams camp east of Tulkarm [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty]
Israeli forces on Saturday demanded 200 families evacuate their homes in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to an activist.
Nadia Arsan told The New Arab‘s sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that families living in neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the camp had previously been displaced but returned to retrieve some of their belongings.
However, she said they ended up staying in their homes, prompting the Israeli army to use drone loudspeakers to demand they leave.
Videos online saw groups of people made to leave their homes standing out in the streets. Other videos showed people moving some belongings out to their vehicles.
The Israeli army began a widescale assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on 21 January, only two days after the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect. Dubbed “Operation Iron Wall”, the military raids have gradually spread to neighbouring towns and camps, including Tulkarm and Nur Shams.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes as a result, amid the widespread destruction of infrastructure and demolition of homes by Israeli forces.
More than 70 Palestinians have been killed, dozens have been injured and hundreds detained.
Israel’s far-right government has been adamant about expanding its illegal settlements in the West Bank, and some officials have called for the territory’s full annexation.
