100 days of Israeli offensives wreak havoc on Palestinian refugee camps in occupied West Bank

A series of deadly Israeli offensives in the northern West Bank has wreaked havoc across Palestinian refugee camps, with the military campaign entering its 100th day on Wednesday, Anadolu has reported.

The military offensives, dubbed ” Operation Iron Wall”, began in Jenin refugee camp on 21 January, before being expanded to the Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps, and other areas in the northern West Bank.

According to Palestinian health ministry figures, at least 52 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that over 40,000 residents have been displaced from their homes, with hundreds of buildings destroyed by the Israeli occupation army. At least 860 Palestinians have been arrested — 600 in Jenin and 260 in Tulkarem — although some have been released.

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Experts say that the Israeli offensive has fundamentally altered the geography of the Palestinian refugee camps through systematic home demolitions and new military road construction.

In Jenin camp, all homes and buildings were either destroyed or partially damaged, according to official estimates, with rights groups, including the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, accusing Israel of applying the same genocidal tactics used in Gaza in terms of the destruction of homes and building roads over the ruins, as well as the displacement of their residents.

In Tulkarem, official figures show that the Israeli army completely destroyed nearly 400 homes in the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, and partially damaged over 2,500 others.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stormed into one of the Palestinian homes in the Tulkarem refugee camp, escorted by Defence Minister Israel Katz.

The Israeli military onslaught in the northern West Bank also included a 10-day incursion into Al-Far’a refugee camp in Tubas in February.

Nearly 960 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land to be illegal and demanded the evacuation within twelve months of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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