Nur Shams Refugee Camp – An Unbreakable Will

By Diana Khwaelid

We witness an unbreakable will in the Nour Shams refugee camp, located north-east in the city of
Tulkarem, despite being subjected to more than 10 incursions, killings, arrests,
destruction of roads and other infrastructure, shelling, and burning of houses and shops.

Storming the Nour Shams camp
On the evening of Monday December 25th, the Israeli occupation forces stormed
the Nur Shams refugee camp northeast of the city of Tulkarem in the north of the West
Bank.

Dozens of Israeli military vehicles accompanied by troop carriers and 4 D9 bulldozers were used by the occupation forces to destroy infrastructure in preparation for the entry of occupation soldiers on foot.
This Israeli military operation launched by the occupation forces on the camp lasted for more than 9 continuous hours.

Confronting the occupation forces and defending the camp.
Palestinian resistance fighters defended the camp and its residents and confronted the Israeli occupation forces who stormed the camp without warning. Armed clashes occurred between Palestinian gunmen who tried to defend the camp and the Israeli occupation forces who targeted residents and houses with live ammunition.

Destruction of infrastructure and roads.
The main and secondary roads were largely destroyed and neighborhoods of Nour Shams camp, mostly concentrated in the Al Damj neighborhood and Manshiyeh neighborhood. The Israeli occupation forces
destroyed the main roads by using military vehicles to bulldoze land and streets with military-type D9 bulldozers. Agricultural land with farming of crops was also destroyed.

Bombing of a house and burning of another.

The Israeli occupation forces targeted two Palestinian houses, one of which was
destroyed by aerial bombardment, and another one that was burned. Everything within it was destroyed from clothes to furniture. Other homes nearby suffered partial damage, such as glass being broken, doors being ripped off. The first house belongs to the citizen Youssef Zandiq one of the camp residents. the second house that was burned belongs to the family of the young man Musa
al-Azeb. The family of the young man Youssef Zandiq said:

“We evacuated the house before it was bombed as no one was inside. Thank God for
everything, we are lucky that there were no human losses.”

Some Palestinian homes were also stormed during the incursion, including the house of the Dahrouki family.
Israeli occupation forces also painted the logo of the star of the state of Israel, as a sign signalling that it will be bombed in the next incursion.
Despite all the violence and destruction carried out by the Israeli occupying forces during the past weeks and months, despite the human and material losses caused by the destruction of houses, roads, agricultural land andshops, the residents of Nur Shams camp still have a strong and unbroken will.