Dozens of residents of Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm city were able to enter the alleys of their camp and inspect their homes for the first time in a year and a half, following coordination that allowed Israeli occupation forces to permit residents to return temporarily for limited hours. Field sources reported that the occupation army imposed strict security measures at the entrances, including confiscating personal IDs and mobile phones and conducting thorough searches of women and the elderly, while a number of young men were arrested on the pretext of having previous security files.
Returnees described the scene inside the camp as shocking, as Israeli bulldozers not only demolished homes but also extended the destruction to infrastructure, water and electricity networks, and uprooted trees, which led to the obliteration of the geographical and social features of the place. Ms. Siham Abu Watfa confirmed that she could not recognize her residential neighborhood due to the accumulated rubble, noting that her home and her children's homes were completely razed to the ground in a clear attempt to erase the memory of refuge and resistance rooted in the camp.
For her part, Ms. Shurooq expressed the bitterness of returning to shattered streets and a completely burned home that the family had inherited from their ancestors since 1950, considering what happened a crime against history and humanity. Despite the magnitude of the tragedy, Shurooq stressed that the determination of the camp residents would not be broken, and that the insistence on staying and starting anew is the only response to the policies of forced displacement practiced by the occupation against the residents of Palestinian camps.
In another testimony, citizen Mohammed Sabri recounted the details of his journey, which he described as a 'journey of humiliation,' as he entered the camp hoping to retrieve some essential belongings such as electrical appliances to help his family in the displacement center, but he found his home empty and destroyed in a way that made it impossible to extract anything from under the rubble. Sabri explained that the risk of entering was great given the spread of snipers and military vehicles that turned the process of inspecting homes into a mission fraught with dangers and psychological intimidation.
Citizen Saif al-Din Hassan Saeed, who witnessed the destruction of his home's furniture and infrastructure, criticized the absence of an effective role for international relief agencies and official Palestinian institutions in supporting the distressed camp residents. Saeed pointed out that the displaced face suffocating financial crises and difficult living commitments amid salary cuts and high living costs, stressing that the aid provided does not rise to the level of the catastrophe that befell Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps in recent months.
In another corner of suffering, Ms. Umm Raja was able to retrieve some household utensils from her home, which partially survived demolition, expressing joy mixed with pain when she found a 'bottle of oil' and a can of olives that had remained intact for two years. Umm Raja considered these simple possessions to represent a symbol of steadfastness and attachment to the land, although she will return with them to the 'shelter' where she currently resides, awaiting a radical solution that will end their ongoing displacement tragedy.
Official estimates issued by local authorities indicate that Israeli military operations in Tulkarm camps have led to the complete demolition of 600 homes and the partial demolition of more than 2,500 homes since the beginning of the recent escalation. This systematic policy has resulted in the displacement of about 500 families and the displacement of approximately 25,000 people, creating a worsening humanitarian crisis that requires urgent international intervention for reconstruction and sheltering families who have become homeless.
The camp has turned into destruction upon destruction, and I could not identify the location of my home due to the uprooting of trees and stones and the complete alteration of the neighborhoods' features.
شارك برأيك
After a year and a half of displacement.. Residents of Nur Shams camp inspect the rubble of their homes amidst strict occupation measures