Israel flattens homes in Tulkarm as new armoured bulldozers arrive from US

Massive arms shipments from the US is accelerating a wave of Israeli destruction in the occupied West Bank with armoured bulldozers arriving as Palestinian homes are simultaniously flattened by the Israeli military.

Since October, Israel has received more than 100,000 tonnes of military equipment via 870 airlifts and 144 sea shipments. The latest delivery includes dozens of D9 armoured bulldozers, handed over this week for use by Israeli forces.

The deployment was coordinated by the Israeli defence ministry's procurement unit in the US, as part of a broader military build-up reportedly "worth billions of shekels".

"We must continue to strengthen our military build-up to support all of the Israeli forces' needs in the current campaign and preparation for the next decade," Israel's Defence Ministry Director-General Amir Baram said.

The shipment comes amid a wide-scale demolition campaign of homes in the Tulkarm refugee camp, where dozens of buildings have been flattened despite a ruling from Israel's Supreme Court.

On Friday, a judge ordered the military to delay the destruction of 104 buildings unless urgent security needs justified immediate action. By Sunday, the military announced it would proceed with demolishing most of the homes. Only four buildings listed in the court's opinion were spared.

Demolitions were also reported on Wednesday in the village of Shuqba, west of Ramallah.

In Jenin’s Al-Hadaf neighbourhood, Israeli forces carried out a separate raid on Thursday morning, detaining dozens of Palestinians. Residents said soldiers fired live ammunition while drones flew overhead.

Palestinian legal advocacy group Adalah condemned the demolitions, saying there was no active combat or pressing security need to justify them.

"The results of the demolition are drastic and life-changing for all the protected residents and homeowners," the group said.

The court’s initial delay order was the first intervention of its kind since Operation Iron Wall began in January. The campaign has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians from Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams, as bulldozers continue to reshape the camps into militarised zones.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed a 55-year-old Palestinian man during a raid on the town of Rummanah, west of Jenin, early Thursday.

Ahmad al-Amour was shot with live ammunition, then run over by a military vehicle. His body was withheld, and his two sons were arrested during the raid.