Amid the most intensive Israeli operations in the area in decades, Palestinians fear entrenched displacement and a return to military control in some towns.

Israel has ordered its military to prepare for an "extended stay" in parts of the occupied West Bank as it steps up operations against Palestinian militant groups, the Israeli defence minister said on Sunday.

Israel's defense minister said Sunday troops would remain “for the coming year” in parts of the occupied West Bank where they have launched a weekslong offensive and would prevent tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he had instructed the military "to launch additional operational activity against terrorist centers" in a video released by the government said to be filmed in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

IDF troops ordered not to allow residents to return to cleared camps as PM delays release of Palestinian prisoners

It's the first deployment of Israeli tanks to the West Bank since a major 2002 offensive carried out in response to a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.

Associated Press journalists saw a handful of tanks move Sunday into Jenin, long a bastion of armed struggle against Israel.

The Israeli military deployed tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years. The deployment comes amid Israel’s “operation Iron Wall” campaign, which launched last month seeking to “eliminate terrorist strongholds” in West Bank refugee camps,