Seven months after Israeli forces launched a major offensive in Tulkarem in the West Bank, some Palestinian families have been allowed to return. They found their homes and businesses destroyed.

Jerusalem

Palestinian families in Tulkarm, located in the occupied West Bank, have returned to find their homes and businesses destroyed after Israeli military operations in the area. Residents report being forced to leave their properties at gunpoint, with some homes later set on fire and others occupied by Israeli soldiers for extended periods. 

The Israeli army stated it was targeting armed resistance groups in a nearby refugee camp. The United Nations has condemned the destruction as collective punishment and noted that nearly a thousand Palestinians, including over a hundred children, have been killed in the West Bank since the escalation of violence following attacks by Hamas on Israel. Many affected families remain displaced and reliant on aid, expressing fear of further attacks.

Palestinians find Israeli army destroyed their homes

Nasser Fartawi sifts through the charred remains of his business and home in Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank. Three decades of hard work building a wedding and events company, well known and respected in his community, virtually everything now destroyed. He says the Israeli military did this. The period over the last eight months got worse because the Israelis put up military barracks all over the area and many of the surrounding residential buildings. We were surrounded from all directions. The area turned into a battlefield. But despite the dangers, we continued to survive. Nasser says the situation took a dramatic turn for the worse on March the 31st. They gave me an hour and a half to leave. I told him, you are targeting the refugee camp, but this is not part of the camp. I refused and said, on what grounds? He said, ask Hamas. I said, I have nothing to do with Hamas. He said, not another word or I'll put a bullet in your head. You will leave at gunpoint. He left with my keys in his hand. He said, now they are mine. Nasser and his family left. He says Israeli soldiers moved in. Hebrew graffiti and expletives have been sprayed on the walls. Sound bomb cartridges, Jewish prayer books are scattered on the floor. Two months later, his neighbours said his property was on fire. Our property was so precious because it was all the capital I had, my entire working life over 34 years. People tell me the Israeli soldiers cordoned off a huge area and stopped the fire brigade from trying to extinguish the blaze. This is the home of Sobhi Shehada. Israeli soldiers also commandeered and occupied it for months. The Israeli army says it was hunting members of armed resistance groups in a nearby refugee camp. Sobhi's sons, Yanal and Mohamed, find their toys and remnants of their lives among the burnt destruction. A soot-covered photograph of their sister, Talal. Israeli soldiers have allowed them to return but remain in the area close by. There is no security. The Israeli army is very near, but we are doing our best. There has been total destruction. Many houses burnt down and we are afraid to repair our homes because we fear they may attack again. For five months, we have been living on handouts. We are all afraid. The United Nations calls it collective punishment that breaks the basic tenets of international law. It says the Israeli army and settlers have killed almost a thousand Palestinians, including more than a hundred children, across the occupied West Bank since the Hamas attacks on Israel almost two years ago. Charles Stratford, Al Jazeera.

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