Noor Shams Camp.. Palestinian Testimonies on Israel Demolishing Their Homes

Palestinian residents of Noor Shams refugee camp north of the occupied West Bank said that Israel has turned their camp and homes into ruins due to extensive bulldozing and destruction operations.

They told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that the Israeli army allowed them to enter the camp for a few hours to collect whatever belongings they could before demolishing 25 residential buildings under the pretext of "security reasons."

Samar Al-Mahr told Anadolu: "My brother's house is slated for demolition; he is disabled, with no alternative or shelter. The situation is tragic in every sense of the word. My mother was displaced, and we could not reach my sister's house."

She continued: "We entered to witness this tragedy; the houses are destroyed inside, everything is broken. Appliances are destroyed, nothing is usable. Animals live inside the houses, and their droppings are on the furniture. Walls are broken, and doors are torn off."

Crying, she added: "I only took out some simple clothes for my mother, anything with memories. Everything else was lost. What they did is unforgivable."

The smell of death

"Destruction beyond endurance"—this is how Umm Ishaq Mahamid began her talk to Anadolu about what she saw inside the camp.

She added: "I entered to help and take out some belongings for my son; I reached my house and found it destroyed inside."

She continued: "There is a smell of death everywhere, no people. The camp has become empty. Animals live in it as if it were a cemetery."

"I cannot even reach the camp cemetery, where my son and husband, both martyrs, are buried. This is the hardest thing; it is no longer a place of life. We entered today despite everything and were subjected to searches," according to Umm Ishaq.

She added: "I tried to take out clothes for my son, who is imprisoned in Nafha prison, hoping he would be released; he has been detained for three years, but I found nothing. I did not even find any trace of my martyred daughter's belongings inside the house."

The home of Palestinian Ahmad Al-Masri is also on the demolition list.

He told Anadolu: "My house has five floors, inhabited by about 30 people. Today it will be demolished. We are completely displaced."

"We were prevented from entering, and only a few family members were allowed," Al-Masri added.

He reported that "entry to the camp requires coordination and permits. People have been left homeless with no alternatives."

Terrorism and displacement

According to political activist Suleiman Al-Zuhairi, a resident of the camp, what is happening in Noor Shams represents "a new wave of Israeli terrorism, injustice, and aggression."

He told Anadolu that the demolition targets 25 buildings containing more than 200 housing units.

He added: "This is part of a long series of demolitions, with the number of destroyed homes reaching about 300."

"The goal is clear: to displace the residents and reshape the camp's geography. The occupation seeks to turn the camp into small residential blocks and completely change its character," according to Al-Zuhairi.

He continued that "a third of the camp's residents will not be able to return because their homes have been or will be demolished, and because the occupation will prevent any future reconstruction."

He concluded that "what is happening is a forced reshaping of the camp's geography, preparing to empty it of its residents. This is a clear displacement plan."

He pointed out that the camp, which does not exceed 210 dunams (one dunam equals 1,000 square meters), used to house about 11,000 people.

Al-Zuhairi added: "But today all of them have been displaced and are in an unknown fate, without homes or guarantees of return."

He emphasized that what is happening in the camp is part of a broader Israeli policy targeting Palestinian camps through demolition, bulldozing, and destruction.

He added that all this aims to pressure Palestinians to forcefully displace them and reshape the demographic and geographic reality in the West Bank.

Violation of international law

Last Sunday, the governor of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, Abdullah Kmeil, called in a statement on the international community, human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions to intervene immediately to stop Israel's decision to demolish 25 residential buildings.

He stressed that this step "constitutes a blatant violation of international law, norms, international charters, human rights laws, and international humanitarian law."

Since January 21, the Israeli army has continued its aggression in the northern West Bank, starting with Jenin camp and then moving to Tulkarm and Noor Shams camps, resulting in the destruction of thousands of homes and the displacement of more than 50,000 Palestinians.

Since the start of the genocide war in Gaza on October 8, 2023, Israel has intensified these measures in preparation for the official annexation of the occupied West Bank, including demolishing homes, displacing Palestinians, and expanding settlement construction.

Annexing the West Bank to Israel would end the possibility of applying the two-state solution principle (Palestinian and Israeli), as stipulated in numerous United Nations resolutions.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have killed at least about 1,100 Palestinians, injured around 11,000, and arrested more than 21,000.

Meanwhile, the Israeli genocide war in Gaza has resulted in more than 70,000 Palestinian martyrs and 171,000 injured, most of them children and women, along with massive destruction with a reconstruction cost estimated by the United Nations at about 70 billion dollars.

Israel was established in 1948 on occupied Palestinian lands, then occupied the rest of the Palestinian territories, refusing to withdraw or allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.