Israel wanting to ‘annex West Bank by force’ after tanks deployed

GAZA CITY: Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Monday accused Israel of wanting to “annex the West Bank by force” after Israel deployed tanks into the occupied territory for the first time in decades.

Israel said on Sunday its troops would remain for many months in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there were displaced by an intensifying, weeks-long military operation.

The military also announced tank deployments in Jenin, where it said it was expanding its operations. This is the first time tanks have operated in the occupied West Bank since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2005.

In a statement, Islamic Jihad said Israel’s use of tanks and the evacuation of three Palestinian refugee camps “confirms the occupation’s plans to annex the West Bank by force.”

The militant group, which alongside Hamas fought a deadly war against Israel in Gaza until a ceasefire was announced last month, described the move as “a new act of aggression”.

It was “aimed at uprooting our people from their land and consolidating military domination by creating settler corridors that reinforce the separation of West Bank cities and their camps,” the group said.

Defence Minister Israel Katz on Sunday said that three Palestinian refugee camps - Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams - were “now empty of residents” following Israel’s offensive, which began last month.

Katz said he had instructed troops “to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism”.

He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the United Nations which said the offensive had so far killed at least 51 Palestinians including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare visit to troops in the territory last week and ordered the army to step up its operations in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Violence in the territory has surged since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 900 Palestinians, including many militants, in the territory since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

Meanwhile, the UN chief voiced alarm at rising violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and calls for annexation after Israel announced expanded military operations in the Palestinian territory.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said human rights are being “suffocated” around the world, lashing out at voices of division and anger who see them as a barrier to their quest for power and profit.

“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Guterres told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

His remarks came a day after Israeli settlers reportedly set fire to several buildings in a Bedouin village near Jaba, a Palestinian town in the central West Bank. Later two young Israelis were wounded after being attacked by Palestinians, also in the central West Bank.

Israel ready to resume Gaza war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said on Sunday that Israel was prepared to resume fighting against Hamas after the Palestinian group accused it of endangering a five-week-old Gaza truce by suspending prisoner release.

The first phase of the truce, which has largely halted more than 15 months of devastating war in the Gaza Strip, is due to expire in early March, and details of a planned subsequent phase have not been agreed.

With tensions again surging over the deal, Israel on Sunday announced an expansion of military operations against Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank, where violence has soared throughout the Gaza war.

Netanyahu, speaking at a military ceremony a day after Israel halted the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for six hostages freed from Gaza, vowed to achieve the war’s objectives in negotiations “or by other means”.

“We are prepared to resume intense fighting at any moment,” he said.

Since the ceasefire began on January 19, Gaza militants have released 25 living Israeli hostages in staged ceremonies, often flanked by masked gunmen and forced to speak.

After six were freed on Saturday, Israel put off the planned release of more than 600 Palestinians, citing what Netanyahu called “humiliating ceremonies” in Gaza.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage-prisoner exchanges, has previously appealed to “all parties” for the swaps to be carried out in a “dignified and private” manner.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said postponing the release exposes “the entire agreement to grave danger”.

Naim called on the truce mediators, “especially the Americans”, to pressure Israel “to implement the agreement as it is and immediately release our prisoners”.

Both sides have accused each other of violations during the ceasefire but it has so far held.