IDF says Palestinians in West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp notified of plans to demolish several buildings

The IDF says that earlier this week, authorities notified Palestinian residents in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem that the army intends to demolish several buildings.

The demolition of buildings is due to a “clear and necessary operational need,” the military says.

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.”

“The camps in northern [West Bank] serve as centers of gravity for terror activity, operating from within population centers. The IDF continues to operate to shape the area to prevent the re-entrenchment of terrorists in the camps,” the army says.