Tanks in the West Bank

Israel evacuates three camps with 40,000 Palestinians

The "anti-terrorist operation" is carried out by the Israeli army, the domestic intelligence service and the border police.(Bild: EPA)

Israel has massively expanded its military presence in the West Bank: For the first time since the Second Intifada almost 20 years ago, armored units have been deployed to the region. According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, three Palestinian refugee camps were evacuated and around 40,000 people displaced.

"I have instructed (the troops) to prepare for a continued presence in the emptied camps in the coming year and to prevent the return of the residents and the resurgence of terrorism," said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday.

Three camps now occupied by the army
The army has removed tens of thousands of Palestinians from three refugee camps in the north of the West Bank, Katz announced: "So far, 40,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps." The three camps are now empty and will be occupied by the army.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army had announced an expansion of its operations in the West Bank. An armored unit had been deployed to the city of Jenin. It is the first armored unit in the Palestinian territory since 2005 - i.e. since the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation.

Reaction to the bomb attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the operation in Jenin on Friday after bombs exploded in three buses near Tel Aviv. "The Israeli armed forces, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service and the border police are continuing their anti-terrorist operation" in the West Bank, the army said on Sunday.

The Israeli army had already launched a major offensive in the West Bank in January with the aim of driving militant Palestinian groups out of the Jenin area. The city and the neighboring refugee settlement are known as strongholds of Palestinian militias.

Violence flares up again
The war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas had also caused violence to flare up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Although the area is governed by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas has been increasingly active there since October 7, 2023 - i.e. since its major attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.