Destruction in Jenin and Tulkarem – a snapshot
- The mayor of Jenin says 120 homes have been completely destroyed in the Jenin refugee camp, with dozens of other homes and structures partially destroyed in the ongoing Israeli military offensive that started 35 days ago.
- Meanwhile, the Tulkarem and Nour Shams Camp Committee has told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army has displaced more than 20,000 residents of the camps and completely demolished more than 60 homes in them.
- More than 530 homes and public facilities have been partially destroyed in the two camps.
- The Israeli army has also extensively destroyed the infrastructure there, including water networks, electricity, sewage, streets, and public facilities.
- The Israeli forces continue to close the Tulkarem governorate with checkpoints surrounding the city of Tulkarem and prevent entry to the two camps.
Nearly 1,200 new illegal Israeli settlement units expected to be approved: NGO
Israeli authorities will discuss the approval of the construction of 1,170 housing units in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to an Israeli anti-settlement group.
Peace Now said Israel’s Higher Planning Council (HPC) is expected to approve the units across four illegal settlements – Gvaot, Itamar, Shaarei Tikva and Givat Zeev. “Of these, 756 units are planned for Gvaot, a settlement adjacent to the Palestinian village of Nahalin, where approximately 50 families currently reside,” the group said.
It also reminded that the council approved the deposit of 250 housing units in Gvaot in July 2024, adding: “With the expected approval on February 26, 2025, the settlement is set to expand twentyfold.”
Israel has continuously expanded its settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory. Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
At least 365 Palestinians arrested in Jenin and Tulkarem: NGO
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society has said the detentions were carried out during the latest Israeli offensive targeting the two governorates and their refugee camps.
The statement said about 200 of the detainees were taken in Jenin, while the rest were arrested in Tulkarem. It added that the data included those who were arrested and kept by Israel as well as others who were later released.
The NGO stressed that detainees included children.
No place for displaced to go as Israel expands West Bank offensive
The Palestinians who have been forced from their homes in the occupied West Bank are going wherever they can – community centres, shelters, family and friends in nearby towns and villages, which are now also being under attack.
For example Qabatiya, which is in the suburbs of Jenin, is now under attack. There’s really no place for them to go to as the entire occupied West Bank is under assault.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government is promising to deepen and expand its military offensive using tanks now, not just against Tulkaram and Jenin, but against the refugee camps across the territory – there are 19 of them, home to about a million Palestinian refugees.
And while they are under attack, Israel is banning UNRWA from operating.
In fact, the Israeli minister of defence has said that as part of their accomplishment in Tulkarem, for example, they’ve not just dispossessed Palestinians from their camps and changed the geography of the place by demolishing more than 100 homes, they are also not allowing that United Nations agency to operate.
So it’s not just those who have lost their homes, but everybody else looking on and wondering when it will be their turn.
