TULKARM, December 31, 2025 (WAFA) — Israeli occupation bulldozers began a large-scale demolition campaign on Wednesday morning in the Nour Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarm. The camp has been under a tight Israeli siege since January.

WAFA correspondent reported that the demolitions targeted the al-Maslakh neighborhood of the camp, as part of a plan announced on December 14 to destroy 25 buildings comprising more than 100 homes. The residents had been forcibly displaced during the ongoing Israeli assault on the camp.

Tulkarm Governor Abdullah Kmail condemned the demolitions, stating that they form part of the ongoing aggression against residents of Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, targeting Palestinian presence and constituting collective punishment of civilians in violation of international law and human rights standards. 

He emphasized that the demolitions exacerbate the forced displacement of residents and the destruction of infrastructure, intensifying the humanitarian suffering of civilians.

Kmail called on the international community and human rights organizations to urgently intervene to halt the ongoing aggression against residents of the camps and the Palestinian people across the occupied territories.

The planned demolitions were recently upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court, which rejected a petition submitted on December 24 by 22 residents of Nour Shams and nearby areas, with the support of the rights group Adalah. 

The court endorsed the occupation army’s claim that the demolitions are justified by a “military necessity,” despite acknowledgment during the hearing that the targeted buildings are civilian homes with no military use. 

The army justified the demolitions as facilitating future Israeli military action within the camp, rather than responding to any current or immediate military necessity.

M.N