“ Israeli forces resumed at home then they set it on fire ”

Nasser Faratawi holds a garland blackened with silicone flowers and a singer Ramadan lantern when he chooses the charred ruins of what was his popular festival workshop in Tulkarm north of the occupied West Bank.

Upstairs, on the three floors of the luxury apartments in his family, the graffiti are scribbled on the walls – including penis drawings in a living room and the bedroom of his daughter.

The expensive furniture has been broken or thrown out the window, fantasy decorations torn off, each page of a torn Koran, and it stinks of rotten food.

“They came and destroyed me,” said Nasser. “Everything is considered to be detracting because I live in this city – because I am Palestinian.”

On March 3, the Israeli army arrived on the property of Faratawi and gave the family an hour and a half to leave. The Israeli Defense Forces (FDI) resumed the building while they were carrying out a huge operation nearby, in the Tulkarm refugee camp.

“They took it as the army base and they lived there for three and a half months, using it as a hotel, then they set it on fire,” said Nasser, always incredulous in what happened.

Looking at a distance, he said that he saw on June 11 that a fire had been launched in his warehouse and his store – where the inhabitants brought their cars to decorate for weddings.

“It was very difficult for me to see my business burn. Everything I have worked for over 30 years,” said Nasser. Its district remained a closed military area, and it was not allowed to return until the beginning of this month.

Asked about the state of the property, the Israeli army told the BBC that it “was not aware of any criminal fire committed by its troops on the site”, and that a complaint concerning the incident “was submitted and was revised”.

The FDI declaration continued: “The destruction of civilian goods by soldiers is contrary to the values ​​of the TDI. As a rule, incidents that depart from the orders and values ​​of the FDI will be examined, studied and discussed by the commanders.” He did not comment on the obscene graffiti.

Since the attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 sparked the brutal war in the Gaza Strip, the attention of the world was widely concentrated there. But tensions have also exploded in the West Bank, with an increase in attacks by Israeli settlers and military operations which, according to Israel, are intended for Palestinian activists.

The UN says that more than 900 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by the action of the FDI and the colonists during this period. At the same time, more than 60 Israelis were killed during attacks indicated by Palestinians or in armed clashes in West Bank and Israel.

During the main Israeli operations, Palestinian houses are systematically used as temporary military bases and interrogation centers, the FDI citing the need for security.

“In order to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure at their root, the FDI is sometimes required to operate from houses in the region for various periods, according to operational needs and circumstances on the ground,” said the Israeli army.

He says that he acts in accordance with international humanitarian law and takes “measures to minimize the impact on civilians as much as possible”.

During the last two weeks of June, during the War of Israel with Iran, the UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) documented Israeli soldiers taking over of around 267 Palestinian houses for periods ranging from several hours to a few days. An early estimate suggested that more than 1,300 people have been affected, which says Ocha “in most cases returned home to find their vandalized property”.

Properties were also taken up at the start of the year in three urban refugee camps built – Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm – when the Israeli army has moved, describing them as “terrorist bastions”. In total, around 40,000 residents were forced to leave the camps, of which around 30,000 could not return.

From a balcony on a upper floor, you can easily look in front of Nasser’s house at the Tulkarm refugee camp. It is like a ghost town with some 10,600 people who still lived there. The Israeli bulldozers have created new paths through the camp – dividing it into distinct zones.

The United Nations Agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, estimates that more than 150 houses have been demolished in Tulkarm. Through the West Bank, the OCHA says that between the start of operation Israel Iron Wall in January and July, there were more than 1,400 demolition orders.

UNRWA now helps refugees staying in private accommodation in and around Tulkarm. He set up a temporary health center and schools and started online education for students.

The Israeli Defense Minister said the soldiers would remain in the three refugee camps until the end of the year.

While Nasser Faratawi is back home, he wonders how he will never renovate him. He estimates that his total losses exceed $ 700,000 (£ 520,000; € 600,000). He can complain about the Israeli authorities, but the evidence passed suggest that it is very unlikely that he will obtain compensation.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank and relies on foreign donors, used to help pay the repairs caused by Israeli military incursions. However, it is currently so used in cash that he cannot pay complete wages to public employees.

Without his shop and with his destroyed stock, Nasser has no income and concern that he can no longer support his son and daughter, who studied medicine in Egypt. It calls on the help of international organizations.

“I am an ordinary person, a businessman,” he said. “I love peace. I had never had a weapon in my house. I had no problem with the Israeli army. I want peace and live in peace, but they don’t want peace.”