Israel remains in West Bank refugee camps during military surgery

Israel remains in West Bank refugee camps during military surgery

The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the occupied West Bank and will remain in some refugee camps for the “next year”, Defense Minister Israel Katz explained on Sunday.

Operation Iron Wall

Israel is currently carrying out the “Operation Iron Wall” - a military campaign that focuses on the northern West Bank. This offensive was last month started only two days after the ceasefire came into force in GAZ.

strategy for security prevention

Katz indicated: "I have instructed the IDF to prepare for an extended presence in the cleared camps for the coming year to prevent the return of the residents and prevent resurrection from terrorism." Currently, three camps - Jenin, Tulkarm and only Shams - are empty by around 40,000 residents who have been "evacuated". Several residents who had left the Jenin refugee camp previously reported that the Israeli military for Evacuation did not know when you can return home.

death and destruction

at least 27 people are said to have died in Jenin due to the offensive, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Last week, a Palestinian official reported that Israeli armed forces more than a dozens Residential buildings have demolished in a refugee camp in occupied West Bank.

military activities in the region

The Israeli army also explained on Sunday that in "additional cities" in jenin- area . "At the same time, a tank train in Jenin will pass to the operational activities," it said. This is the first time that Israeli tanks have been operating in the Palestinian area since the end of the second intifada in 2005.

background of the military offensive

In recent years, the Israeli army has regularly intervened in Jenin and the surrounding refugee camps, but has not established any permanent presence in the immediate vicinity. Jenin has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, but was placed under the administration of the Palestinian National Agency in 1995.

outlook and reactions

Since the attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel has initiated an increasingly militarized campaign that is directed against militant groups in West Bank. This includes strategies, such as air strikes that were previously almost unknown there. On Sunday, Katz emphasized that the Israeli armed forces do “offensive operations to eliminate terrorist strongholds, neutralize militants and to destroy terrorist infrastructure, buildings and weapon depots on a large scale.”

He promised to "continue to clear refugee camps and other terrorist centers to reduce the battalions and terrorist infrastructure of radical Islam." "We will not return to the previous reality," he added.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry rejected such justifications as "preliminary walls" to bring the area under Israeli control.

This report was supported by CNNS Kareem Khadder and Irene Nasser.