Tulkarm Camp (Arabic: مخيم طولكرم), is a

Palestinian refugee camp Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian e ...

north of the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

in the city of

Tulkarm Tulkarm, Tulkarem or Tull Keram ( ar, طولكرم, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities o ...

, established in 1950 on 0.18 km² by the

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 ...

. It is the second largest refugee camp in the

, as well as one of the most densely populated. The camp was severely affected during the Second Intifada by incursions, arrests, raids and curfews. Incursions still take place, though on a more irregular basis. In 2013, the health centre was reconstructed with project funds amounting to US$1.7 million. Tulkarm camp has four UNRWA schools.

History

In 1950, the Tulkarm Camp was established by

in the city, comprising an area of . Most of the refugees who resided in the camp came from Jaffa, Caesarea and

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. Today it is the second largest

in the

. During the early months of First Intifada on 26 April 1989 Izam Omar Hasan, aged 8, was shot dead by

Israeli soldiers The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. On the same day Samar Muhammad Manid, aged 9, was shot in the eye with a plastic bullet. He died 5 days later. In March 1990, responding to questions from a member of

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

, Minister of Defence

Yitzak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

stated the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

was active in Tulkarm at the time of the deaths and that in the case of the 9-year old the Military Police Investigation was continuing; in the case of the 8-year-old an officer was reprimanded for firing five plastic bullets breaking operational orders, but it could not be established if he killed the boy because no autopsy was carried out. On 31 May Muhammad Hamadan, aged 8 months, was shot dead by soldiers while being carried by his mother in Tulkarm refugee camp.B'Tselem information sheet update 1 June 1989. p4. also refers to Samar Manid/Mara'i
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References

Populated places established in 1950 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank Tulkarm Governorate {{Palestine-geo-stub