For over a month, Israeli forces, supported by bulldozers, have been raiding Palestinian homes and destroying essential infrastructure.

Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Israeli army has evacuated three refugee camps in the northern West Bank and has orders to stay there and prevent the return of residents.

“Thus far, 40,000 Palestinians have evacuated from the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams, leaving them devoid of inhabitants,” he explained.

“I have directed [soldiers] to be ready for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps over the coming year and to stop residents from coming back and the revival of terrorism,” Katz added.

For over a month, Israeli forces have been carrying out raids on Palestinian homes and utilizing bulldozers to destroy critical infrastructure. These operations have predominantly targeted Jenin and Tulkarem.

A deployment of tanks in Jenin marks the first in the West Bank since the end of the second intifada in 2005, as declared by the Israeli army.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, critcized the decision to deploy tanks in the northern West Bank.

“This is an alarming escalation by Israel that will not lead to stability or calm, and we caution against this dangerous escalation,” he said.

Since January 19, when the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect in the Gaza Strip, Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp have experienced an Israeli siege, resulting in the deaths of at least 27 Palestinians.

Following explosions on empty buses near Tel Aviv on Thursday, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called an attempted mass attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to execute a “comprehensive” operation in the West Bank.

No fatalities were documented in the explosions, and no group has taken responsibility.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli army and settler attacks continued on Sunday throughout the West Bank.

In Nablus, during Israeli raids, at least eight individuals were arrested, and two more were apprehended in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood in northern East Jerusalem.

Israeli bulldozers also demolished electrical lines and waterlines in the town of Qabatiya, to the south of Jenin, Wafa reported, adding that Israeli soldiers set up another military checkpoint at the entrance to al-Issawiya, another neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

Since the onset of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, Israel has been responsible for the deaths of over 800 Palestinians in the West Bank.