JENIN, West Bank (AP) — Israel's defense 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 Jan. 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 Defense 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.
Three tanks, still in Israeli territory, could be seen Sunday from an area near Jenin. It was the first time Israel was sending tanks to the territory since 2002, when Israel fought a deadly Palestinian uprising.
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 U.N. 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 Oct. 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.
Jewish settlers also have carried out rampages in Palestinian areas in the territory. There has also been a spike in Palestinian attacks emanating from the West Bank. On Thursday, blasts rocked three empty buses in Israel in what police view as a suspected militant attack.
Israel delays release of Palestinian prisoners
The West Bank raids come at a sensitive time, as the truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza remains tenuous.
Israel early Sunday said it was delaying the latest release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners until it gets assurances that Hamas stops what Israel says are “humiliating” handovers of hostages being freed.
The 620 prisoners were to have been released shortly after six Israeli hostages in Gaza were freed Saturday — five of them in staged ceremonies criticized by the U.S. and Red Cross as cruel.
Family members were distraught. “What have the prisoners done? We don’t know what happened. They killed our joy,” said one mother, Najah Zaqqot.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu faced new criticism while speaking at a military graduation. As he held up a picture of Shiri Bibas and her young boys, Ariel and Kfir, whose remains were returned from Gaza last week, to demonstrate “what we are fighting against,” audience members called out “Shame!” and “Why didn’t you save them?” The prime minister didn’t react.
With a week left in the ceasefire's first phase, Israel and Hamas do not appear to have begun negotiations on its second phase. The truce's collapse could lead to renewed fighting in Gaza, where Netanyahu said on Saturday that 63 hostages remain, including the remains of a soldier captured in 2014.
The U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told CNN on Sunday that he expects the second phase to go forward, adding: “We have to get an extension of phase one and so I’ll be going into the region this week, probably Wednesday, to negotiate that.”
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians want all three territories for their future independent state.
___
Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Majdi Mohammed And Tia Goldenberg, The Associated Press
