Israeli occupation forces issued a military order on Sunday to demolish twenty‑five new buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem in the northwestern part of the occupied West Bank.
The decision has drawn sharp condemnation from Palestinian officials, who warn of escalating destruction and forced displacement in the area.
Governor of Tulkarem Abdullah Kamil urged the international community, human rights organizations, diplomatic missions, and embassies to intervene immediately to stop the order.
He described the military order as a continuation of Israel’s systematic campaign of demolition and collective punishment against the residents of Tulkarem and Nur Shams, stressing that it represents a flagrant violation of international law, humanitarian conventions, and human rights treaties.
Kamil emphasized that the measures are part of a deliberate policy of devastation targeting civilians and their property, resulting in widespread displacement.
The two refugee camps have already endured extensive destruction. Earlier this year, more than one hundred buildings and housing units were demolished in both Tulkarem and Nur Shams, in what residents say was an attempt to alter their geographic and social character.
The new order comes as Israeli forces maintain a prolonged siege: Nur Shams has been under siege for three hundred and nine consecutive days, while Tulkarem city and Tulkarem refugee camp have been under siege for three hundred and twenty‑two days.
Entrances remain blocked with earth mounds, concrete cubes, and iron gates, while heavy gunfire is reported daily inside the camps. Residents are barred from returning to their homes, and several houses have been seized and converted into military outposts.
The humanitarian toll has been devastating. More than five thousand families, amounting to over twenty‑five thousand residents, have been displaced from the two refugee camps.
More than six hundred homes have been completely destroyed, while more than two thousand five hundred others have been partially damaged, leaving vast areas uninhabitable.
The ongoing assault has killed fourteen Palestinians, including a child and two women, one of them eight months pregnant.
Dozens more have been injured or abducted, while widespread destruction has devastated infrastructure, homes, shops, and vehicles.
The demolition order in Nur Shams underscores the intensifying Israeli campaign of collective punishment in the occupied West Bank.
With prolonged sieges, forced displacement, and systematic destruction, Tulkarem and its refugee camps have been transformed into zones emptied of civilian life, in clear violation of international law.
Since the beginning of the Israeli military aggression against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have killed 1097 Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, including 226 children and 24 women.
In the Jenin governorate, 308 Palestinians have been killed, while 213 were killed in Tulkarem, 138 in Nablus, 105 in Hebron, 98 in Tubas, 81 in Ramallah, 60 in Jerusalem, 42 in Qalqilia, 32 in Bethlehem, 13 in Jericho and the Jordan Valley, and 7 in Salfit.
