Jerusalem (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Israel’s defense minister said soldiers would remain “for the coming year” in parts of the occupied West Bank where Israel has conducted an offensive.
Defense Minister of Israel, Israel Katz, stated he had ordered the military to prepare to remain in some of the West Bank’s refugee centers, from where he stated approximately 40,000 Palestinians had fled, leaving the places “emptied of residents.”
Israel expresses it is determined to eliminate militancy in the territory. Still, Palestinians consider such raids as part of an action to cement Israeli control over the territory, where 3 million Palestinians reside under military regulation.
He stated in a statement he had instructed 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.
The military expressed it was extending the raid in the West Bank to other regions and, in a rare move, was dispatching tanks to Jenin.
Why is the Israel-Hamas truce considered fragile?
Since the early 1990s, Israel has possessed control over large parts of the West Bank while the Palestinian Authority administers other regions. Israel regularly dispatches troops into Palestinian areas, but it typically departs from them once forces complete their tasks.
According to experts, the raid’s escalation comes at a sensitive moment, as the truce between Israel and Hamas continues to be tenuous. Israel stated it was postponing the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees until it gets assurances that Hamas prevents what Israel says are “humiliating” transfers of hostages being released.
There have also been repeated rampages by Jewish settlers throughout Palestinian sites in the territory. Israel launched a wide offensive on the northern West Bank on January 21, 2025, two days after the truce that halted the war in Gaza took hold and then extended it to include other nearby areas.
