Tag: Nur Shams

What is Happening in the Northern West Bank?

4 September 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Northern West Bank

By Diana Khwaelid

The radical Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has renewed his incitement to impose collective punishment on citizens in the occupied West Bank, including the killing of detainees in occupation prisons.

In the early hours of August 28, 2024, Israel announced the start of a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, specifically targeting three cities and their refugee camps: Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas. Israel has named this operation “The Summer Camps,” while the resistance factions in the West Bank, particularly the Jerusalem Brigades, have called it “The Terror of the Camps”. This Israeli operation is the largest since the “Protective Fence” operation in 2002. According to the *Yedioth Ahronoth* newspaper, a full military squad was mobilized after several weeks of preparation. Hebrew Channel 14 confirmed that the army had deployed thousands of soldiers from various special units, including the use of military helicopters and heavy weapons.

The operation began with a simultaneous Israeli incursion into the three cities, using huge bulldozers and air cover. The Israeli occupation forces closed all roads leading to the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, but encountered armed resistance from fighters who attempted to prevent further advancement. In response to the armed clashes on the ground, Israel resorted to airstrikes, bombing three different locations: the Far’a refugee camp (Tubas), the Nour Shams refugee camp (Tulkarm), and a site near the Jenin refugee camp. These bombings killed several resistance fighters and wounded others. The first day ended with the assassination of nine resistance fighters, most of them from the Al-Quds Brigades and the Al-Qassam Brigades, and the wounding of an Israeli soldier amid massive destruction to the infrastructure of several targeted cities.

A week ago, the occupation forces began a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank under the pretext of dismantling resistance cells. Since then, resistance fighters have been confronting them with explosive devices and gunfire, resulting in the deaths and injuries of several Israeli soldiers.

The operation has so far resulted in the martyrdom of 33 Palestinians and the injury of 130 others, causing significant destruction to the infrastructure in the cities and camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Tubas. The Israeli occupation forces have not only liquidated several resisters in the Nur Shams refugee camp, northeast of Tulkarm, Jenin Camp, Tubas, and Nablus but also renewed their incursion into the city of Tulkarm on the evening of Monday, September 2. This time, they stationed themselves in the Tulkarm refugee camp, where the military operation is still ongoing.

The residents of the camps in the northern West Bank, particularly in the Tulkarm and Jenin camps, are experiencing a state of fear and terror. On Monday evening, Israeli occupation snipers targeted a civilian and his 15-year-old son. The father was transferred to the hospital, but the child died while attempting to leave the camp.

Israeli special forces also surrounded a Palestinian house in the village of Dhnaba, east of Tulkarm, and demanded the surrender of two Palestinian youths. According to eyewitnesses, they used a Palestinian child, no older than 16, as a human shield. The forces subsequently killed the two Palestinians, seized their bodies, and confiscated their private vehicle.

The Israeli occupation forces are also obstructing the movement of medical crews in the northern West Bank cities, particularly Tulkarm and Jenin, preventing them from entering the camps, transporting the injured, and assisting Palestinian patients in humanitarian cases.

The house that was surrounded and two Palestinians were executed in the village of Dhnabu

The Israeli occupation forces use a warplane to carry out an assassination in Nur Shams Camp

By Diana Khwaelid

Tulkarm-Nur Shams refugee camp

30 – Jun – 2024

The Israeli occupying forces carried out an assassination in partnership with the Israeli commander in charge of the north-central areas of the West Bank and The Israeli internal security service, an assassination in broad daylight in the Nur Shams refugee camp northeast of the city of Tulkarem in the West Bank.

At about 2: 00pm an Israeli warplane bombed a Palestinian house in the Al-Manshiyeh area of the camp,with Palestinian resistance members inside. The bombing resulted in the death of a Palestinian man, and injured five others. Two of them are in serious condition.

According to Palestinian eyewitnesses, there are at least four Palestinian houses damaged by this shelling, where women, children, and men were living inside and whose lives were threatenede as a result of shrapnel that penetrated the walls of their houses and the windows were broken from the force of the shelling.

A resident of Nour Shams Camp looks out of her window after the Israeli attack — A resident of Nur Shams Camp looks out of her window after the Israeli attack

A resident of Nour Shams sits amongst shrapnel strewn inside his home after the Israeli bombardment — A resident of Nur Shams sits amongst shrapnel strewn inside his home after the Israeli bombardment

The Palestinian medical and civil defense teams rushed to secure the house and the area. They recovered the injured and the body of the Palestinian martyr Saad Jaber, 24, who died as a result of his injury.

The residents of Nur al-Shams camp are living in a state of fear due to the increase in Israeli attacks on the camp over the past few months.

Hundreds of Palestinians mourned the Palestinian martyr Said Ezzat Jaber, 24, who Israeli occupation forces tried to assassinate more than once. The last time a few days ago, but he miraculously survived these attempts. Said is considered one of the most prominent Palestinian resisters in the camp and he died defending the camp today. The people of the camp are mourning him and saying goodbye for the last time.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, there are at least 116 martyrs in the city of Tulkarm since October 7.

The funeral of a martyr from Nour Shams — The funeral of a martyr from Nur Shams

Endless war – Nur Shams refugee camp

By Diana Khwaelid

30 December 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Tulkarm

A new Israeli incursion into the Nur Shams refugee camp continues an endless war of destruction after destruction.

On the night of Sunday December 30th dozens of military vehicles, including D9 bulldozers, stormed the city of Tulkarm and the Nur Shams refugee camp northeast of the city.

This invasion took place around midnight where the occupation forces surrounded the hospitals in the city, obstructing the movement of ambulances in transporting the injured Palestinians to hospitals.

Several people standing and walking through a street with houses partially destroyed. — The citizens taking stock of partially broken houses.

The Israeli occupation forces besieged the Nur Shams refugee camp for at least 11 continuous hours, from Sunday evening until Monday morning at 10:00 AM. During this, they destroyed infrastructure, cut off electricity, destroyed the water network and cut internet and communication lines.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Red Crescent crews dealt with several injuries on people from both the Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarm camp, including a serious injury to a person from Tulkarm camp after the storming of this camp, which took place simultaneously with the storming of Tulkarm city and Nur Shams camp by the Israeli Occupation Forces .

Dalal and Ahmed Khalifa, two Palestinian citizens of the camp whose house was invaded by the Occupation Forces said that the Israeli occupation forces broke into the house at about 3:00 AM.

Picture from inside Dalal Khalifa and her son Ahmed's house following the IOF invasion. Bullets are lying on the floor. — Picture from inside Dalal Khalifa and her son Ahmed’s house following the IOF invasion.

“The occupation forces confiscated all the family’s phones and our IDs, destroyed the house, broke windows and doors, conducted an investigation inside the house, and interrogated all family members, including women.” explained Dalal.

“The Israeli occupation forces did not take into account the presence of children and women in the house, as there were 5 children and two women in the house at the time of the break-in,” she said. “One of the soldiers stole my wallet and stole some of my money, and their break-in continued for at least 5 continuous hours until they left the next morning at 7:30 am.“

78-year-old Hassan Jabari whose house was damaged, explained that “The Israeli occupation forces broke into my house in the camp, and destroyed it from the inside, destroying household furniture and breaking windows. Half of my house was demolished.”

A picture of an older man, Hassan Jabari, clearing rubble from a half destroyed house. — Hassan Jabari clears rubble from his house following the IOF invasion.

“Thank God I was not at home at the time of the storming of the camp. I was at my daughter’s house in Thenaba – one of the villages next to the camp.” He added.

In the recent incursion into the camp, dozens of Palestinian homes were partially or fully destroyed both from inside and outside. The wall belonging to one of the UNRWA international institutions in the camp was destroyed.

During December, the Nur Shams refugee camp has been stormed at least 5 times.

Several people using a bucket to throw rubble out from inside of a house through a big hole in the wall. — People clearing out rubble from a house.

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.

A new massacre in Nour Shams camp, Tulkarm

19 October 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Tulkarm

By Diana Khwaelid

The Israeli occupation forces launched a major military assault on the city of Tulkarm, especially on the Nur Shams refugee camp. A curfew was imposed throughout the city for at least 30 continuous hours, and Israeli snipers were deployed in more locations within the city, as well as in villages adjacent to the city and camps, especially the Nur Shams camp.

On 19-10-2023, at 3:00 in the morning, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed the Nur Shams refugee camp in huge numbers, with dozens of military jeeps, bulldozers and a D9 caterpillar. The camp’s sirens were activated, as camp residents woke up to the sound of gunfire and exploding bombs. Residents of the camp, especially children, were woken up by huge explosions that shook the camp.

There were strong clashes between Palestinian fighters who tried to defend the camp and the occupation soldiers, which lasted for around 30 hours, after which the Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the camp completely, on Friday morning at about 7:00 AM.

The Israeli occupation forces completely destroyed the main entrance to the camp and the infrastructure of the camp using one of its military vehicles, the armoured bulldozer type D9. The IOF also destroyed dozens of civilian cars belonging to the camp’s residents, 7 Palestinian houses were bombed using drones, some of which were destroyed and part of them were partially damaged.

The IOF also destroyed water networks and sewage pipes, and electricity and communication lines were completely cut off on the camp since the first hours of the invasion. There was no good communication between the camp residents and the outside, which exacerbated the problem of calling ambulances to enter the camp and transfer the wounded.

According to medical sources , 13 Palestinians were killed. 2 of them were not residents of the camp. 7 of them under the age of 18 and 2 of them were 10 years old. According to the Red Crescent, at least 40 people were injured, including by live bullets and shrapnels produced during the firing of missiles by Israeli drones, which targeted homes belonging to Palestinian civilians.

The Israeli occupation forces also obstructed the movement of medical personnel and ambulances, and hindered them from moving and entering the camp to transport the wounded to the hospital. The IOF identified members of the medical staff and obstructed the movement of journalists attempting to report on the raid. At least one injured Palestinian who was inside the ambulance was arrested on his way to the hospital.

7 Palestinians were killed while they were near a house targeted by a drone. 5 of them were children. The Israeli occupation claims that it was targeting Palestinian militants, but all those reported killed were unarmed civilians.

Hundreds of Palestinians from the camp and from nearby towns participated in the funerals of the Palestinian martyrs who were killed in cold blood during this assault launched by the Israeli occupation forces on the camp. Funeral attendees raised the Palestinian flag, and chanted patriotic words expressing national unity, anger and condemnation of the IOF’s continuing bloody crimes against the Palestinian people, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or Nur Shams camp.

After the assault, the number of martyrs of the city of Tulkarm rises to 22 since the start of the war on Gaza on 7-10-2023. 81 Palestinians were martyred in the West Bank during this period.

This is the fifth invasion on the camp in recent months, but the inhabitants of Nur Shams are still ready to sacrifice their lives to defend their homes.