Tulkarem: An Israeli court approved the demolition of 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem despite a petition by Palestinian owners, a human rights group said Friday.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) stated that Israel's Supreme Court rejected the petition challenging military orders for the demolition of the 25 buildings. The court based its decision on classified materials submitted by state prosecutors in coordination with military intelligence, which were not disclosed to the petitioners or their legal representatives.
Adalah reported that the state acknowledged there is no urgent need to carry out the demolitions, noting that the area has experienced no combat activity for over a year. Despite this, the court upheld the army's position and ruled that military commanders possess broad authority in such matters, with judicial intervention being limited to exceptional cases, which the court determined do not apply in this instance.
The court decided that the demolition orders will not be executed before December 27, 2025, according to Adalah. During the hearings, Adalah cautioned that the ruling would reinforce forced displacement prohibited under international humanitarian law, asserting that the residents are protected civilians and that their property is safeguarded under the same standards.
Adalah mentioned that this was the fourth petition it has filed in recent months against collective demolition orders in the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem refugee camps, all of which the Supreme Court has declined to block, citing military authority. The Israeli army initiated expanded military operations in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank earlier this year.
Israel has increased raids, home demolitions, displacement, and settlement expansion in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, actions widely perceived as paving the way for the formal annexation of the occupied territory. The annexation of the West Bank would effectively terminate prospects for a two-state solution envisioned in multiple United Nations resolutions.
Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures. In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.