IDF plans demolition of 24 buildings in Jenin refugee camp

The IDF says that earlier this week, authorities notified Palestinian residents in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank that the army intends to demolish 24 buildings.

“The demolition of buildings is required in accordance with a clear and necessary operational need,” the military says.

On Tuesday, the Civil Administration body in the Defense Ministry notified the residents of the IDF’s plans.

The military says the residents of the buildings have been given time to take their belongings.

The decision to demolish the structures was made by the chief of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, “after careful consideration, while reducing the scope of demolition to the minimum required, and after considering other alternatives,” the IDF says.

The IDF has already demolished hundreds of buildings in the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem camps in the West Bank this year, with officers saying it is intended to “preserve the IDF’s freedom of operation.”

“There is extensive use by terror organizations of explosive devices that endanger IDF troops operating in the camps, sometimes in densely populated civilian areas, posing a risk both to the troops and to nearby civilians. In the past month alone, IDF troops have arrested several terrorists and located additional explosive devices in the camps that had not yet been cleared since the IDF began operating in the camps daily,” the army adds.