By Enes Canli
TULKARM, Palestine (AA) - Following a 48-hour military operation, Palestinians living in the Nur Shams Refugee Camp in city of Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank have accused the Israeli military of attempting to forcibly displace residents.
Late on Thursday, the Israeli army withdrew from Tulkarm and the Nur Shams Refugee Camp after nearly two days of intense, simultaneous attacks on refugee camps in the northern West Bank.
As news of the withdrawal spread, the streets of Tulkarm, which had been deserted for two days, were soon filled with people and vehicles.
Residents began returning to their homes via streets turned into dirt roads by Israeli military bulldozers. As they walked through the camp, Palestinians of all ages witnessed the destruction left behind by the army’s intense attacks.
- 'They were trying to kill us'
Um-Halid, a Palestinian woman living in the camp, told Anadolu that she and her family remained in their home during the raid.
she recounted how five soldiers initially confiscated their IDs and phones before another group of soldiers attempted to break into their house.
“They fired at the door, and the bullet passed right by my hand,” she said. “The soldiers were trying to kill us.”
Um-Halid described how the soldiers gathered civilians from the surrounding area into a single flat, then planted explosives on the upper floor and detonated them, leaving the residents trapped in a room for two hours.
After the soldiers withdrew, she went upstairs to inspect the damage and was targeted by the soldiers' laser sights, fearing for her life.
When asked if she would leave the camp, Um-Halid responded, "They (Israeli soldiers) want to forcibly displace us. Where should we go? This is our camp, our home."
Mustafa Shahab said the Israeli army seized his home in the Nur Shams camp during the raid and used it as a base.
Shahab noted that the army had shared footage of his house in a propaganda video, marking the second time soldiers had occupied his home.
"All of humanity, human rights, all of this is just empty talk," he said. "Would you enter someone's home, eat, drink, and leave such a mess?"
He emphasized that these attacks were deliberately carried out to displace Palestinians forced to live as refugees in their own land.
Since Israel’s establishment on May 14, 1948, millions of Palestinians have been subjected to forced displacement and continue to live under occupation and blockade.
The number of Palestinian refugees has grown to over 6 million worldwide, with approximately 5.3 million registered with UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
Hundreds of thousands of exiled Palestinians continue to live in 61 refugee camps inside and outside the country under difficult conditions.