Israel orders evacuation of Palestinian refugee camp in West Bank amid onslaught

TULKAREM CITY, Palestine

The Israeli army on Wednesday ordered Palestinian residents in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank to evacuate amid a military offensive in the area, witnesses said.

“The Israeli army, via loudspeakers, ordered Palestinians to leave their homes in the camp,” east of Tulkarem city, an eyewitness told Anadolu.

The army raided the camp on Sunday, in the latest escalation in the northern West Bank amid military operations that have killed more than 30 people and displaced thousands since Jan. 21.

Palestinians leaving the camp are searched and interrogated by Israeli forces before being allowed to depart, witnesses said.

According to the Doctors Without Borders aid group, the Israeli onslaught in Jenin and Tulkarem in the northern West Bank has displaced over 38,000 Palestinians.

The escalation in the West Bank follows a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza on Jan. 19 after more than 15 months of Israeli bombardment which has killed nearly 48,200 Palestinians and devastated the enclave.

Since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 910 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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