Israel army to stay in evacuated West Bank camps for ‘coming year’

Israel said yesterday its troops 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 fighters 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”, Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the UN 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 fighters”.
Also yesterday, 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 yesterday, said the deployment showed that “we are taking on fighters 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 yesterday.
“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.”
Netanyahu made a rare visit to troops in the territory on Friday and ordered the army to step up its operations in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied
since 1967.