Jenin, Feb 23: Israel’s defence minister said Sunday troops will remain “for the coming year” in parts of the occupied West Bank where they have launched an offensive and will prevent tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning, as Israel deepens its crackdown on the Palestinian territory.
Israel launched the broad offensive in the northern West Bank on January 21 – two days after the current ceasefire in Gaza took hold – and expanded it to nearby areas, saying it is determined to stamp out militancy amid a rise in attacks.
Palestinians view such raids as part of an effort to cement Israeli control over the territory, where 3 million Palestinians live under military rule. The deadly raids have caused destruction in urban areas.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he instructed the military to prepare to remain in some of the West Bank’s urban refugee camps, from where he said about 40,000 Palestinians have fled – a figure confirmed by the United Nations – leaving the areas “emptied of residents.” The camps are home to descendants of Palestinians who fled or were forced to flee during wars with Israel decades ago.
In a statement, Katz said he ordered the military to “prepare for an extended stay in the camps that were cleared for the coming year and to not allow the return of residents or for terror to grow again.” It was not clear how long Palestinians would be prevented from returning.
The military said it was expanding the offensive to other areas and, in a rare move, was sending tanks to Jenin, long a bastion of armed struggle against Israel.
Netanyahu under
pressure to crack down
Under interim peace agreements from the early 1990s, Israel maintains control over large parts of the West Bank while the Palestinian Authority administers other areas. Israel regularly sends troops into Palestinian zones but typically withdraws them once missions are completed.
The UN says the current military operation is the longest since the Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s.
Violence has surged in the West Bank throughout the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has carried out raids during that time, but with fighting in Gaza and Lebanon on hold, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under pressure from far-right governing partners to crack down on militancy in the West Bank.
More than 800 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Israel says most were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions as well as people not involved in confrontations have also been killed. In the most recent operation, a pregnant Palestinian woman was killed. (PTI)
