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
Syria, Kurdish forces race to save integration deal ahead of deadline
- Discussions have accelerated in recent days despite growing frustrations over delays
AMMAN/RIYADH/BEIRUT/ANKARA: Syrian, Kurdish and US officials are scrambling ahead of a year-end deadline to show some progress in a stalled deal to merge Kurdish forces with the Syrian state, according to several people involved in or familiar with the talks.
Discussions have accelerated in recent days despite growing frustrations over delays, according to the Syrian, Kurdish and Western sources who spoke to Reuters, some of whom cautioned that a major breakthrough was unlikely.
The interim Syrian government has sent a proposal to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls the country’s northeast, according to five of the sources.
In it, Damascus expressed openness to the SDF reorganizing its roughly 50,000 fighters into three main divisions and smaller brigades as long as it cedes some chains of command and opens its territory to other Syrian army units, according to one Syrian, one Western and three Kurdish officials.
’SAVE FACE’ AND EXTEND TALKS ON INTEGRATION
It was unclear whether the idea would move forward, and several sources downplayed prospects of a comprehensive eleventh-hour deal, saying more talks are needed. Still, one SDF official said: “We are closer to a deal than ever before.”
A second Western official said that any announcement in coming days would be meant in part to “save face,” extend the deadline and maintain stability in a nation that remains fragile a year after the fall of former President Bashar Assad.
Whatever emerges was expected to fall short of the SDF’s full integration into the military and other state institutions by year-end, as was called for in a landmark March 10 agreement between the sides, most of the sources said.
Failure to mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture risks an armed clash that could derail its emergence from 14 years of war, and potentially draw in neighboring Turkiye that has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
Both sides have accused the other of stalling and acting in bad faith. The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, after which it controlled Islamic State prisons and rich oil resources.
The US, which backs Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and has urged global support for his interim government, has relayed messages between the SDF and Damascus, facilitated talks and urged a deal, several sources said.
A US State Department spokesperson said Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy to Syria, continued to support and facilitate dialogue between the Syrian government and the SDF, saying the aim was to maintain momentum toward integration of the forces.
SDF DOWNPLAYS DEADLINE; TURKEY SAYS PATIENCE THIN
Since a major round of talks in the summer between the sides failed to produce results, frictions have mounted including frequent skirmishes along several front lines across the north.
The SDF took control of much of northeast Syria, where most of the nation’s oil and wheat production is, after defeating Daesh militants in 2019.
It said it was ending decades of repression against the Kurdish minority but resentment against its rule has grown among the predominantly Arab population, including against compulsory conscription of young men.
A Syrian official said the year-end deadline for integration is firm and only “irreversible steps” by the SDF could bring an extension.
Turkiye’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said on Thursday it does not want to resort to military means but warned that patience with the SDF is “running out.”
Kurdish officials have downplayed the deadline and said they are committed to talks toward a just integration.
“The most reliable guarantee for the agreement’s continued validity lies in its content, not timeframe,” said Sihanouk Dibo, a Syrian autonomous administration official, suggesting it could take until mid-2026 to address all points in the deal.
The SDF had in October floated the idea of reorganizing into three geographical divisions as well as the brigades. It is unclear whether that concession, in the proposal from Damascus in recent days, would be enough to convince it to give up territorial control.
Abdel Karim Omar, representative of the Kurdish-led northeastern administration in Damascus, said the proposal, which has not been made public, included “logistical and administrative details that could cause disagreement and lead to delays.”
A senior Syrian official told Reuters the response “has flexibility to facilitate reaching an agreement that implements the March accord.”
