Israel has begun demolishing 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, displacing dozens of Palestinian families.
The Israeli military claimed that the demolitions of the homes, housing some 100 families, were part of an operation against resistance fighters.
Media reports said Israeli military bulldozers and cranes tore through the structures in Nur Shams in Tulkarm early Wednesday, with many residents watching from a distance.
“The commander of the Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, ordered the demolition of several structures due to a clear and necessary operational need,” the military told AFP in a statement.
“Areas in northern Samaria have become a significant center of terrorist activity, operating from within densely populated civilian areas,” it claimed, using Israel's term for the occupied West Bank.
The demolitions take place while many of the buildings’ residents have nowhere to go.
Since earlier this year, Israel has intensified its attacks in Tulkarm, Jenin, and other parts of the occupied West Bank.
Violence has soared in the occupied West Bank since the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza began in October 2023.
At least 1,102 Palestinians have since been killed in the West Bank, and nearly 11,000 others have been injured in attacks by the military and Israeli settlers in the occupied territory.
Around 21,000 people have also been abducted by the occupying regime’s forces.
For months, rights organizations have been warning that Palestinians in the West Bank face a growing threat of ethnic cleansing amid the continuing violence.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s prolonged occupation of historic Palestine was unlawful and called for the removal of all settlements currently in the West Bank and East al-Quds.