Amid deadly raids, Israeli army orders evacuation of another West Bank camp

Israeli forces issued a mandatory evacuation threat to the Nur Shams refugee camp, as the Israeli military continues its deadly operations in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that Israeli forces "stormed" the Ayada neighborhood of the refugee camp on Wednesday and used mosque loudspeakers to inform residents to immediately leave the camp, which has been under Israeli siege since earlier this week. This escalation further intensifies the already precarious situation for the camp's inhabitants.

The report added that Israeli forces deployed at the camp's entrance fired "live ammunition and sound bombs" to create panic among residents, with soldiers "assaulting young people" and "expelling the elderly, not allowing them to carry basic necessities." The forced evacuation threat is the latest in a series of orders issued over the past four days since Israel launched its operation in the camp. Three weeks ago, Israel launched the "Iron Shield" military operation in the West Bank, which, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians and forced at least 40,000 people to flee their homes.

Launched days after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the operation has seen Israeli forces raid several refugee camps, including Jenin, Tulkarem, al-Far'a, and al-Arroub, in an attempt to clear out residents. Hamza Zubeidat, a land rights researcher based in Bethlehem, told Al Jazeera: "This is a comprehensive and open war against the entire existence of the Palestinian people in the West Bank." UNRWA has stated that the nearly three-week military operation is the "longest sustained operation in the West Bank" since the Second Intifada.

In addition to the large-scale military operations in refugee camps and cities in the northern occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers have also launched a series of smaller-scale attacks. Wafa news agency reported on Wednesday that Israeli soldiers attacked three students in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus. The army also deployed tear gas and sound bombs against students in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, causing them to suffer injuries related to suffocation. Israeli forces raided the town of Aqaba, north of Tubas, and arrested two men. They also used bulldozers to destroy farmland in the village of Funduq, east of Qalqilya, and raided homes near occupied East Jerusalem.

Land rights analyst Zubeidat emphasized that Israel's attacks are not limited to refugee camps, with Israel also building "new walls" around Palestinian villages in the Jordan Valley, "isolating entire Palestinian communities from West Bank cities." He said: "We are not only talking about the daily scenes in the Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarem refugee camps, but there is another hidden war. The real goal of this operation goes even beyond military targets." This suggests a broader strategy aimed at further fragmenting Palestinian territories and control.

The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that 13 children have been killed in the West Bank this year, adding that "the number of Palestinian children killed in the territory in the past 16 months has increased by 200% compared to the previous 16 months." The statement said: "UNICEF condemns all violence against children and calls for an immediate end to armed activity in the occupied West Bank. All civilians, including every child, must be protected at all times, without exception." This highlights the urgent need for international intervention to safeguard the well-being of Palestinian children amidst the ongoing conflict.