“The Israeli forces took my home and then set it on fire”

Nasar Faratai holds a blackened garland of silicone flowers and a singing lantern Ramadan as he passes through the charred ruins of what was his popular party shop in Tulkarm in the northern part of the occupied West Coast.

Above, on the three floors of his family’s luxury apartments, graffiti is scratched on the walls – including penis drawings in the living room and his daughter’s bedroom.

Expensive furniture is broken or thrown out of the window, fantasized decorations, each page of a torn Koran and stinks of rotten residual food.

“They came and destroyed me,” Nasser tells me. “Everything is seen as destroyed because I live in this city – because I am a Palestinian.”

On March 3, the Israeli military arrived at the Faratavi property and gave the family an hour and a half to leave. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) took over the building while performing a huge surgery nearby, at the Tulkarm refugee camp.

“They accepted it as an army base and they lived in it for three and a half months, using it as a hotel, and then they set it on fire,” Nasar says, still unbelief from what happened.

Looking from a distance, he says that on June 11 he saw that a fire had started in his warehouse and shop – where locals had brought their cars to be decorated for weddings.

“It was very difficult for me to see my business burning. Everything I worked for over 30 years,” Nasar says. His neighborhood remained a closed war zone and was allowed to return only early this month.

Asked about the condition of the property, the Israeli military told the BBC that “it is not aware of arson by its troops at the place” and that a complaint about the incident “was filed and is under review.”

The IDF statement continued: “The destruction of civil property by soldiers is contrary to the values ​​of IDF. As a rule, incidents that deviate from the orders and values ​​of the IDF will be considered, investigated and addressed by commanders.” He does not comment on the careless graffiti.

As the deadly attacks led by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 have caused the brutal war in the Gaza Strip, the world’s attention is largely focused there. But tensions are also rockets on the west coast, with increased Israeli attacks by settlers and military operations, which Israel says are aimed at Palestinian fighters.

The UN says more than 900 Palestinians were killed on the west shore of IDF actions and settlers. At the same time, more than 60 Israelis were killed in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes on the West coast and Israel.

During large Israeli operations, Palestinian homes were used routinely as temporary military bases and interrogation centers, with the IDF citing the need for security.

“In order to find and dismantle terrorist infrastructure in its root, sometimes IDF is required to work from homes in the area for different periods of time, according to operational needs and field circumstances,” the Israeli army said.

It says it works according to international humanitarian law and takes “measures to minimize the impact on civilians as much as possible.”

In the last two weeks of June, during the Israeli war with Iran, the UN Humanitarian Office (OCA) documents Israeli soldiers, taking about 267 Palestinian homes for periods, ranging from several hours to several days. An early rating suggests that more than 1,300 people have been affected, which he expects he says, “in most cases he has returned to his homes to find his property vandalized.”

The properties were also taken over in the beginning of the year in three built-in, city refugee camps, Nur Shams and Tulkarm-when the Israeli army moved, describing them as “terrorist fortresses”. A total of about 40,000 inhabitants were forced to leave the camps, about 30,000 of which failed to return.

From the upstairs balcony you can easily look from Nasser’s house to the Tulkarm refugee camp. It’s like a ghost city with about 10,600 people who lived there are still displaced. Israeli bulldozers have created new paths through the camp – breaking it into individual areas.

The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, Unrwa, estimates that more than 150 houses were demolished in Tulkarm. Beyond the West Coast, he expects that between the start of Israel’s operation, the iron wall in January and July had more than 1,400 demolition orders.

Now UNRWA is supporting refugees staying in private accommodation in and around Tulkarm. He has established a temporary health center and schools and has started online education for students.

Israel’s Defense Minister said the military would remain in the three refugee camps by the end of the year.

As Nasar Faratai is back in his home, he wonders how he will ever renovate it. He estimates that his total losses are up to $ 700,000 (£ 520,000; € 600,000). He may complain about the Israeli authorities, but past evidence shows that it is very unlikely to receive compensation.

The Palestinian Administration, which runs parts of the west coast and relies on foreign donors used to pay repairs caused by Israeli military invasions. At the moment, however, he is so bonded to money that he cannot pay full salaries to public workers.

Without his store and with his reserves destroyed, Nasser has no income and concerns that he can no longer support his son and daughter who study medicine in Egypt. It is attractive to help from international organizations.

“I’m an ordinary person, a businessman,” he says. “I love peace. I have never had a weapon in my house before. I had no problem with the Israeli army. I want peace and live in peace, but they do not want peace.”