JENIN: Israel said on Sunday its forces would remain for many months in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there have been displaced by an intensifying military operation.
The military began a major raid against Palestinian militants in the West Bank’s north a month ago, just after a truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory.
The West Bank offensive has gradually expanded, spanning multiple refugee camps near the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.
Three of the camps, Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams, “are now empty of residents,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the United Nations which said the offensive has so far killed at least 51 Palestinians including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers.
Katz said he had instructed troops “to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism.”
Also on Sunday, Israel’s military announced tank deployments in Jenin, where it was “expanding” operations.
This is the first time tanks have operated in the West Bank since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2005.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a military ceremony on Sunday, said the deployment showed that “we are fighting terror with all means, everywhere.”
Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at security and risk management consultancy Le Beck International, told AFP there was “no real military logic to using tanks in the West Bank at this stage.”
“Unless it is to send a message, and potentially to stay more permanently in areas that have been targeted by Israeli raids,” he added.
AFPTV footage showed Israeli tanks advancing and bulldozers operating in the Jenin area on Sunday.
“The occupation’s army destroyed Palestinian shops and infrastructure,” said Jenin resident Fayez Al-Sayyed.
“This is a way to execute their policy of displacing the Palestinian people from their land,” he told AFP.
“We are here, and we will not leave our country," he added.
Analyst Horowitz said “the Israeli government has been devoting a lot more attention to the West Bank” since a shaky ceasefire deal with Hamas group took hold in Gaza on January 19.
In both Tulkarem and Jenin, the Israeli army has demolished dozens of homes with explosives, opening up new access routes into the densely built camps.
Armored bulldozers have wreaked havoc, upturning tarmac, cutting water pipes, and tearing down roadside facades.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 900 Palestinians, including many militants, in the territory since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel says army to stay in evacuated West Bank camps for ‘coming year’
https://arab.news/4d2w8
Israel says army to stay in evacuated West Bank camps for ‘coming year’
- Israeli military operations in the West Bank displaced 40,000 Palestinians
- Israel deployed tanks in Jenin for the first time since the end of the second Palestinian intifada
Israel defense minister vows to stay in Gaza, establish outposts
- His remarks, reported across Israeli media, come as a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds in Gaza
JERUSALEM: Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday vowed Israel will remain in Gaza and pledged to establish outposts in the north of the Palestinian territory, according to a video of a speech published by Israeli media.
His remarks, reported across Israeli media, come as a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds in Gaza.
Mediators are pressing for the implementation of the next phases of the truce, which would involve an Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Speaking at an event in the Israeli settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank, Katz said: “We are deep inside Gaza, and we will never leave Gaza — there will be no such thing.”
“We are there to protect, to prevent what happened (from happening again),” he added, according to a video published by Israeli news site Ynet.
Katz also vowed to establish outposts in the north of Gaza in place of settlements that had been evacuated during Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the territory in 2005.
“When the time comes, God willing, we will establish in northern Gaza, Nahal outposts in place of the communities that were uprooted,” Katz said, referring to military-agricultural settlements set up by Israeli soldiers.
“We will do this in the right way and at the appropriate time.”
Katz’s remarks were slammed by former minister and chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who accused the government of “acting against the broad national consensus, during a critical period for Israel’s national security.”
“While the government votes with one hand in favor of the Trump plan, with the other hand it sells fables about isolated settlement nuclei in the (Gaza) Strip,” he wrote on X, referring to the Gaza peace plan brokered by US President Donald Trump.
The next phases of Trump’s plan would involve an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the establishment of an interim authority to govern the territory in place of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilization force.
It also envisages the demilitarization of Gaza, including the disarmament of Hamas, which the group has refused.
On Thursday, several Israelis entered the Gaza Strip in defiance of army orders and held a symbolic flag-raising ceremony to call for the reoccupation and resettlement of the Palestinian territory.
