IDF announced on Wednesday April 9 the expansion of their "Iron Wall military operation" in Nablus, which included a raid on the Balata refugee camp east of the city.

According to Al-Haq الحق @alhaq_org

• Around 1:00 AM, 9 April, Israeli forces raided Balata RC., eastern Nablus, conducting a large campaign of home invasions, searches, field interrogations &arrests.

• Families were displaced and their homes converted to military posts.

• IDF imposed a curfew in the camp starting from 5:00 AM, 9 April, until 6:30 AM,10 April.

• 8 families from 4 residential buildings have been displaced (UNRWA) & dozens were injured, incl. children, w/ live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets, teargas bombs & beatings (PRCS).

This is not the 1st attack on Balata Refugee Camp since the start of the ongoing military attack on northern West Bank on 21 Jan 2025. Israeli Army have been carrying out almost-daily-raids, killing 2 Palestinians; Ahmad Sawalmeh, 42, on 25 Jan & Mahmoud Sanajreh, 25, on 27 Feb. Without accountability, Israel will continue to escalate its genocide against the Palestinian people. The international community must act to stop Israel’s colonial violence that aims to destroy & eliminate the #Palestinian people & erase their right to return & self-determination.

Other details :

• Israeli raided the camps during the night of 9 April with special forces.

• Large Israeli army forces stormed then multiple neighborhoods within the Balata camp, deployed snipers on rooftops, and sealed off all entrances, imposing a curfew on the camp.

• They forced several families to leave their homes and exit the camp while also raiding numerous houses, searching and ransacking their contents, or occuping them as outpost.

• They assaulted a 15-year-old boy during their raid on the camp.

• Israeli occupation forces conducted mass arrests of Palestinian youths during their ongoing aggression on Balata refugee camp in Nablus, arresting at least three individuals.

• Around 6 p.m; Israeli forces deliberately fired tear gas canisters at journalists and Palestinians during their ongoing aggression in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus. Palestinian journalists Sohaib Abu Diak and Shadia Bani Shamsa were reported suffocated.

• Occupation soldiers obstruct the work of the Palestinian Red Crescent teams in Nablus, searching an ambulance while trying to reach one of the patients in areas that were raided by the Israeli.

• They destroyed the Martyrs’ memorial during yesterday’s military invasion of Balata camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

The Balata camp was one of the first refugee camp built after the Nakba in 1950. It's also the largest and the most populated. The streets are narrow and there are no a lot of open space.

Night 2 (9-10 April)

• Since the previous night, at least 14 Palestinians have been wounded, including four children aged 15-16. Two are in critical condition after being shot with live ammunition. Dozens of others have suffered from tear gas inhalation, including a 14-year-old boy struck in the face by a tear gas canister.

• Residents fear they may face the same fate as those in Jenin and Tulkarem, where over 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced since January as part of Israel’s ongoing military offensive.

• The situation remains dire as emergency services struggle to evacuate sick children and treat the injured amidst the siege. Arrests have also been reported, including two alleged members of the Lion’s Den group. Videos shared online show families fleeing their homes, as the humanitarian crisis in the region deepens.

During the Balata raid:

• Over 150 homes vandalized

• 14 people wounded by live ammunition

• 7 men and 1 woman arrested

• 50+ affected by tear gas and sound bombs