Some 25 buildings are at imminent risk of demolition starting December 18, impacting hundreds of forcibly displaced Palestinians, the director of UNRWA affairs for the occupied West Bank, Roland Friedrich, said Tuesday in a declaration posted on social networks.
Additionally, satellite images show that nearly half of all camp buildings, or 48 percent, had already been damaged or destroyed before this latest order.
Objective to control
“This new demolition order fits the pattern we have seen too often this year, where Israeli forces destroy homes to enable their long-term control over the camps.in the northern West Bank, permanently changing their topography,” Mr. Friedrich said.
“Justified by “military necessity”,these demolitions do not make anyone safer“, he added.
In January, the Israeli army launched a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank that displaced thousands of Palestinian refugees.
Operation Iron Wall initially targeted the Jenin refugee camp, but expanded to the Tulkarm, Nur Shams and El Far’a camps.
Distant hope of return
“The forced displacement of more than 32,000 Palestinian refugees in the northern West Bank must not become permanent,” Friedrich said.
“Residents have been impatiently waiting to return home for 11 months. With each bulldozer, this hope becomes further and further away.”
Support Palestinian refugees
UNRWA supports nearly six million Palestinian refugees in five locations across the Middle East, including 19 camps in the occupied West Bank.
Some 13,739 people were enrolled in the Nur Shams camp in 2023, where two UNRWA schools – one for boys and one for girls – accommodate around 1,571 students.
Residents also have access to primary health care, including reproductive health, infant and child care, vaccinations, screenings and medical check-ups, at the camp’s only health center.
Deaths, displacement and destruction
The escalation of violence and tensions in the West Bank is a cause for concern, the United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process said Wednesday. Security Council in New York.
Ramiz Alakbarov presented his quarterly presentation on Council Resolution 2334 (2016)which calls on Israel to cease its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.
He told ambassadors that Israeli security operations in the north had caused numerous deaths, population displacement and large-scale destruction, particularly in refugee camps.
“The continued presence of Israeli security forces in the camps contravenes the obligations to end the illegal occupation,” he said by video conference.
Record expansion
Mr. Alakbarov also condemned “Relentless expansion of Israeli settlements» which “fuels tensions, hinders Palestinian access to land and threatens the viability of a contiguous and sovereign Palestinian state”.
This coincides with an increase in settler attacks, thereby strengthening the occupation, violating international law and undermining Palestinian self-determination.
He said settlement progress reached its highest level this year since the UN began tracking the situation almost a decade ago.
“I urge Israel to respect its obligations under international law, recalling the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of July 19, 2024, which requires Israel to cease all further settlement activity, evacuate settlers and promptly end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory,” he said.
Increased settler violence
The senior official further condemned the rise in settler violence in the West Bank, which intensified during the olive harvest.
Palestinian farmers have been victims of attacks, harassment and obstacles to accessing their land; while olive trees were uprooted or burned, and entire crops destroyed.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
