Israeli tanks near Jenin, as West Bank counter-terror operation escalates

Israeli tanks have been spotted near Jenin in the West Bank on Sunday for the first time since “Operation Defensive Shield” in 2002.

The Israel Defence Forces has confirmed that an armoured division is being deployed in the Jenin area as part of expanded counter-terror operations in the area, according to Israel’s Channel 14.

Forces from the IDF’s Nahal Infantry Brigade and the Duvdevan commando unit have initiated operations in additional villages within the Jenin area.

Three tanks from the 53rd Armoured Battalion are now active in a neighbourhood within Jenin, according to Channel 14, and security sources indicated to the outlet that the IDF is also considering the use of fighter jets to support the ongoing operation.

This escalation follows a sharp rise in terrorism in  the West Bank including last Thursday’s attempted mass bus bombing in central Israel.

Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday that the IDF will remain for the next year in West Bank refugee camps that have been cleared of terrorists and civilians, with no return allowed.

“Forty thousand Palestinians have so far evacuated from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, and they are now empty of residents. UNRWA activity in the camps has also been stopped,” Katz said in a written statement.

“We are at war with Islamic terror in Judea and Samaria. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for a prolonged stay in the cleared camps for the coming year, and not to allow the return of residents and for terror to return and grow,” Katz continued.

He reiterated that Israel will  keep up its efforts to eradicate terrorist infrastructure and terrorist groups in the area. The IDF will also consider establishing posts within the camps to prevent terrorists from returning, with the operation expected to expand as necessary.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the Tulkarem camp on Friday – hours after explosions on several buses in the Tel Aviv area that are being investigated as a coordinated terrorist attack – that Israeli troops “are doing a tremendous job.”

“In the past year, we have greatly increased our activity. We are entering the strongholds of terrorism, levelling entire streets used by terrorists, and their homes, as well as eliminating terrorists and commanders,” said Netanyahu, according to an English translation provided by his office. “We are taking extremely important measures against Hamas and other terrorist entities who are attempting to harm us,” he added.

The Israeli premier called the events in Bat Yam and Holon on Thursday night “an attempt to perpetrate a series of terrorist attacks with mass casualties,” adding that it “is a very severe situation.”

In response, he said, Israel is launching “additional operations against hotbeds of terrorism.”

“I know that our heroic soldiers know how to do this job well,” he added.

Netanyahu on Thursday ordered the military to conduct a “massive” counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank and instructed the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Police to step up “preventive activities” against possible additional attacks across the country.

All of the explosions on Thursday occurred in parked, empty buses across the central cities of Bat Yam and Holon, located south of Tel Aviv. There were no injuries in the attack. Two more devices were found by Israeli security forces.

At least one of the bombs bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, that stated, “Revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp,” Channel 12 News reported.

All five explosive devices were intended to go off simultaneously in a “strategic terrorist attack,” Channel 12 cited security sources as saying.

On Friday, Katz toured the Tulkarem camp, where he vowed to vanquish the terrorists. “We are at war with extremist Islamic terror and we will win – here, in Gaza and everywhere,” he said.

The IDF said on Friday that troops had detained some 90 terror suspects in the West Bank over the past week. The military has been conducting an offensive in the region dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” since January 21.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, during a tour of the area on Sunday, called for the annexation of the West Bank saying that Israeli communities there are the key to achieving peace. The member of the ruling Likud Party said: “These biblical, original, parts of our land, which in the Bible tells the story of our people, are intended for us, for the people of Israel, need to be in the territory of the State of Israel, under the ownership of Israel, under full Israeli sovereignty, and I think that today this thing is clearer than ever.”