Qabatiya/West Bank: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that troops would remain “for the coming year” in parts of the occupied West Bank where they have launched a weekslong offensive. He added that Israel forces would prevent tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning as the Netanyahu administration deepens its crackdown on the Palestinian territory, the Associated Press reported.
Israel launched a broad offensive on the northern West Bank on January 21 — two days after the ceasefire that paused the war in Gaza took hold — and then expanded it to include other nearby areas.
Israel says 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 raids have been deadly, caused destruction to urban areas and displaced tens of thousands.
Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare to remain in some of the West Bank's urban refugee camps, from where he said some 40,000 Palestinians had fled — a figure confirmed by the United Nations — leaving the areas “emptied of residents”.
He said in a statement he had 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 for how long Palestinians would be prevented from returning.
The military said it was expanding the raid in the West Bank to other areas and, in a rare move, was sending tanks to Jenin, long a bastion of armed struggle against Israel.