Israel targets refugee camps for being ‘living witness to Nakba’: Palestinian Governor

Israel is targeting residents of refugee camps in the northern West Bank because they are “a living witness to the Nakba,” a Palestinian Governor said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Nakba, or Catastrophe, is a term used by Palestinians to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by Jewish gangs in 1948 to make room for Israel’s creation.

“Israel is working to change the geography of refugee camps in the West Bank, and is carrying out extensive destruction operations,” Tulkarem Governor, Abdullah Kamil, told Anadolu in an interview.

He said around 1,000 homes were demolished by the Israeli army in the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in the northern West Bank since 2021.

On 21 January,  the Israeli army launched an assault on Jenin city and its refugee camp that was later expanded to the city of Tulkarem, where dozens of Palestinian homes were detonated, displacing thousands of people. And on 2 February, the army extended its offensive to the town of Tammun and Al-Far’a Refugee Camp in Tubas city in the northern West Bank.

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According to the Palestinian government, over 5,000 Palestinian families have been displaced by the ongoing Israeli attacks in the northern West Bank.

Political agenda

Kamil said the Israeli assaults in the northern West Bank are “politically driven”.

“It is related to the strategic goals of the Israeli government in the West Bank, specifically its north,” he said.

“The issue is related to the Palestinian refugee camps as a witness to the Nakba and the crime of the century that was committed in 1948.”

The Palestinian Governor said the ban on the UN agency for the Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) was part of the Israeli policy in the area.

“What is happening in Tulkarem, and previously in the Nur Shams camp, was a comprehensive process of destruction, which targeted the sewage, water and electricity networks, roads and homes,” he added.

“The destruction taking place in Tulkarem resembles a mini Gaza.”

A deadly Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed nearly 47,600 people, mostly women and children, injured over 111,000 and left the enclave in ruins.

The onslaught was brought to a halt under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold on 19 January.

Annexation

The Governor said that the Tulkarem camp is home to 2,500 families of around 12,500 people.

“Around 1,500 families of around 9,000 people have so far been displaced from the camp,” he added.

He said that Israel had carried out 62 military operations in the city since September 2021.

Since the Gaza war began on 7 October, 2023, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 905 Palestinians across the Occupied West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

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Kamil dismissed Israeli claims that its offensive targets “wanted” Palestinians in the West Bank.

Everyone knows Israel’s intention from its military offensive against the refugee camps. It is a political decision, not a security measure. Israel is lying

he said.

The Governor said the current Israeli onslaught in the northern West Bank aims to appease Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and advance his plan to annex the Occupied Territory by 2025.

In November last year, Smotrich said that 2025 will mark the year of applying Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank, thus ending “the threat” of a Palestinian State.

“They (Israeli government officials) are acting as if they can settle the conflict with Palestinians through military force. I say this is a foolish assumption,” the Governor said.

No resettlement

Regarding US President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians, Kamil stressed that Palestinians will not leave their land or bow to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump thinks the Palestinian people will suffer the fate of Native Americans. But we are not them, and we will not leave

Kamil said.

The Palestinians “are resilient people who will not bow down to Trump or Netanyahu,” he added.

Trump triggered uproar on Tuesday by suggesting to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its people elsewhere during a news conference with Netanyahu.

His proposal was met with wide condemnations from the Palestinians, Arab countries and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany and the UK.

Since 25 January, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should be taken in by regional Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan, an idea rejected by both the Arab states and Palestinian leaders.

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