Soldiers have pushed deeper and more forcefully, scattering families and stirring bitter memories of the 1948 war over Israel’s creation.

A weeks-long Israeli offensive has demolished houses and torn up vital infrastructure in the heavily built up townships, Palestinian authorities said.

The Israeli military launched a wide-scale operation last month against militants in several cities in the West Bank. Now, roughly 40,000 Palestinians have fled their homes — the highest since Israel occupied the territory nearly six decades ago,

The IDF has destroyed several homes in the West Bank’s Tulkarem refugee camp. This destruction follows the IDF’s “Iron Wall” operation, which began in Jenin refugee camp in January to “dismantle the terror infrastructure built in Palestinian refugee camps” according to the IDF.