GuShiio.com ① On Sunday (February 23) local time, IDF tanks broke into the West Bank for the first time in decades, in what the Palestinian Authority called a “dangerous escalation”;
② Previously, the Israeli Defense Minister stated that Israeli troops would be stationed in some areas for a year. Tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled are likely to be unable to return to their homes.
Cailian News, February 24 (Editor Xiaoxiang)On Sunday (February 23) local time, IDF tanks broke into the West Bank for the first time in decades, in what the Palestinian Authority called a “dangerous escalation.”
Earlier, the Israeli Defense Minister stated that Israeli troops would be stationed in some areas for a year. Tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled are likely to be unable to return to their homes.
Locals have now seen tanks driving along dirt roads into Jenin, the northern gateway to the West Bank, which has long been a “bridgehead” for the anti-Israeli armed struggle.It is reported that this is the first time that IDF tanks have launched operations in the West Bank since the “Military Operation Defensive Wall” in 2002.
Israel is currently intensifying its crackdown on Palestinian territory and has expressed its determination to root out militants amid an increase in attacks. Israel launched an offensive in the northern West Bank on January 21-two days after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect. The large-scale military operation codenamed the “Iron Wall” was quickly expanded to nearby areas.
Palestinians see Israel’s move as a means of consolidating its control over the region. Currently, 3 million Palestinians in the region live under Israeli military threat. Deadly attacks have caused severe damage to urban areas.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to “intensify activities to defeat terrorism” in all refugee camps in the West Bank.He pointed out,”We will not allow residents to return, nor will we allow terrorism to come back and grow.”
Katz had earlier said he had instructed the military to prepare for “long-term stationing” in urban refugee camps in parts of the West Bank. According to Katz, about 40,000 Palestinians have fled from the camps, leaving the areas “empty.” The United Nations later confirmed the figure.
These camps are home to people of Palestinian descent who fled or were forced to flee during the war with Israel decades ago. It is unclear how long Palestinians will be prohibited from returning. Katz said the troops would “stay behind for a year.” Netanyahu pointed out that they would stay “as needed.”
dangerous escalation
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry accused Israel of “leading to a dangerous escalation of the situation in the West Bank” and urged the international community in a statement to intervene in Israel’s illegal “aggression.”
“Even if they stay, we will eventually return to the camp,” said Mohamed al-Sadi, one of the displaced people from Jenin.”This camp is ours. We have nowhere else to go.”
Under an interim peace agreement reached in the early 1990s, Israel continues to control most of the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority manages the rest. Israel regularly sends troops to Palestinian areas, but usually withdraws after completing the mission.
Violence also surged in the West Bank during the Israeli-Hamas Gaza War. Israel subsequently carried out raids on local militants, but with fighting in Gaza and Lebanon stalled, Netanyahu has been under pressure from his far-right ruling partners to crack down on militants in the West Bank.
The United Nations says Israel’s current military operation in the West Bank is the longest since the early 2000s.
From March 29 to April 22, 2002, the Israel Defense Forces launched “Operation Defense Wall Military” in the Palestinian Autonomous Area in the West Bank, launching attacks on a series of towns. The operation occupied six West Bank autonomous cities in Ramallah, Tulkarm, Kalqiliya, Bethlehem, Nablus and Jenin three phases, causing a large number of civilian casualties.
