In a publication on its website, the United Nations (UN) warned that, in addition to attacks on schools, hospitals, and residential centers in Gaza, homes and refugee camps are being destroyed in the other occupied Palestinian territory.
The multilateral organization indicated that new orders from Tel Aviv will take effect this week, threatening the Nur Shams refugee center and some 25 other buildings, which will force hundreds of people into displacement.
According to Roland Friedrich, the representative of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, satellite images show that 48% of all buildings in the camp had already been damaged or destroyed before this latest directive.
“This new demolition order fits a pattern seen all too often this year, with Israeli forces destroying homes to enable their long-term control in the northern West Bank, permanently altering its topography,” he noted. Justified by a supposed “military necessity,” these actions do not make anyone safer, he added.
Friedrich said that the forced displacement of more than 32,000 Palestinian refugees in the northern West Bank must not become permanent and reiterated that people are anxiously waiting to return to their homes.
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