Israeli bulldozers on Wednesday began demolishing 25 buildings in a refugee camp inhabited by Palestinians, in what the military said was an attempt to root out armed groups in the northern areas of the occupied West Bank.
The buildings, home to around a hundred families, are located in the Nur Shams camp, a frequent site of clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces.
Israeli military bulldozers and cranes tore through the buildings on Wednesday morning, sending thick clouds of dust into the air, an AFP reporter reported. Numerous locals watched from a distance.
The army said the demolitions were part of an operation against fighters.
– After the current counter-terrorist activity of the Israeli security forces in the area of Nur Shams in northern Samaria, the commander of the Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, ordered the demolition of several buildings due to a clear threat – the army says.
– The areas in the north of Samaria have become a significant center of terrorist activities, operating from densely populated civilian regions. The army launched an operation it said was aimed at dismantling Palestinian armed groups from camps in the northern West Bank – including Nur Shams, Tulkarem and Jenin – the army said.
– Even a year after the start of IDF operations in the area, forces continue to find ammunition, weapons and explosive devices used by terrorist organizations, which endangers IDF soldiers and violates operational freedom of action – the army said on Wednesday.
During December, AFP reported that residents of the targeted buildings were returning their belongings, with many saying they had nowhere to go.
The demolition is part of a broader Israeli strategy aimed at facilitating access for military vehicles inside the densely built refugee camps in the West Bank.
Israel has occupied that Palestinian territory since 1967.
Nur Shams, along with other refugee camps in the West Bank, was established after the creation of Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes.
Over time, the camps they established within the West Bank became densely populated settlements that were not governed by neighboring cities. Residents pass on their refugee status from generation to generation.
Many locals believe that Israel is trying to destroy the very idea of the camps, turning them into regular settlements of the surrounding cities, in order to solve the refugee problem, reports AFP.
(Vijesti.ba/Fena)
