40,000 displaced as Israeli tanks enter West Bank for first time in 2 decades

• Tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced and told not to return to their homes in the West Bank after Israeli tanks moved in. Israel hasn’t sent tanks into the West Bank since 2002.
• The Palestinian foreign ministry called the move “a dangerous escalation” and asked the international community to help combat the country’s illegal “aggression.”
• Israel launched its West Bank offensive on Jan. 21, two days after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect.

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Tens of thousands of Palestinians are being told not to return to their homes in a West Bank refugee camp after Israeli tanks moved into the occupied territory Sunday, Feb. 23, for the first time in more than two decades. Israel’s defense minister said that troops will remain in the area for a year

In response, the Palestinian foreign ministry said Israel was engaged in “a dangerous escalation of the situation in the West Bank,” and asked the international community to mitigate the country’s illegal “aggression.”

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Journalists with the Associated Press reportedly saw tanks move into the West Bank territory of Jenin. The area was home to the descendants of Palestinians who had fled previous wars with Israel. Tanks haven’t entered the West Bank in more than two decades.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will not allow the return of residents, and we will not allow terrorism to return and grow.” The two also reportedly ordered the military to “increase the intensity of the activity to thwart terrorism” across the West Bank’s refugee camps.

While Katz said the Israeli army would stay in the region “for the coming year,” Netanyahu said they would stay “as long as needed.”

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Palestinians, 3 million of whom live under military rule in the West Bank, believe that Israel is working to take control of the territory after it launched a growing offensive there on Jan. 21, two days after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect.  

The last time tanks were used in the West Bank was 2002 when Israel wanted to quell a deadly Palestinian resistance.