By Wikipedia Eleven-year-old Basel Abu Daoud was injured in his left thigh when an IDF dog bit him during an arrest raid in the Balata refugee camp on…
Balata Camp is a Palestinian refugee camp established in the northern West Bank in 1950, adjacent to the city of Nablus. It currently houses 17,645 registered Palestinian refugees. Residents of the camp suggest that the number of residents is closer to 30,000. It is currently the largest refugee camp in the West Bank. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) funds a school in the Balata camp, with approximately 4,000 pupils. Balata Camp is one of the most densely populated locations on Earth. Less than two square kilometers in size, 30,000 people live in its concrete block houses. The layout of the camp is a product of its creation. In 1950, the UN gave the refugees from the Jaffa area temporary housing. These people initially refused the UN's offers, stating their eagerness to return to their homes. They desired no sense of permanence. After two years, these refugees accepted the UN's offer and settled at Balata. In 1956, the Jaffa refugees desired more permanent housing. The border with the recently created State of Israel having been sealed, the refugees accepted the UN's offer to build concrete structures in place of the refugee's tents. Balata camp today is so dense because these concrete structures were built on the actual plots families had been given for refugee's tents. There are some alleyways in the camp that are so narrow that large people cannot traverse them.
