Israel stepped up its ongoing military operation in the West Bank on February 23, marking a dramatic shift with the deployment of battle tanks in for the first time in two decades. Operation Iron Wall, centred initially on the Jenin refugee camp, has expanded across multiple West Bank towns, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians and stoking fears of a broader plan to reshape the region’s future.
The West Bank, a landlocked territory west of the Jordan River and home to over 33 lakh Palestinians, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, when Israel captured it—along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip—from Jordan in the Six-Day War. For many Israelis, the West Bank, which they refer to as Judea and Samaria, holds deep biblical significance, a belief that has fuelled the construction of settlements housing roughly five lakh Israelis. These settlements, considered illegal under international law, are supported by the Israeli government, a policy that has long inflamed tensions in the region.
The latest escalation follows a series of bomb attacks on February 20, when explosives detonated on three buses in parking depots around Tel Aviv’s suburbs. There were no casualties as the buses were empty, but the incidents, coupled with the discovery of another dismantled explosive device, rattled Israelis and evoked memories of the deadly bus bombings of the 1990s and early 2000s. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately called for a “massive operation” in the West Bank, redirecting military focus from Gaza, where a fragile truce with Hamas holds, for now.
Speaking at an officers’ training school on February 23, Netanyahu said Israeli troops would remain in the West Bank “as long as needed”, framing the deployment of tanks and APCs as a symbol of Israel’s resolve to “fight terrorism with all means and everywhere”. The Israel Defence Forces confirmed that a platoon of Merkava tanks from the 188th Armored Brigade had been deployed in Jenin, the first such move since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. Infantry and commando units have swept through villages near Jenin and Tulkarem, arresting dozens, expelling many more and seizing weapons.
Defence Minister Israel Katz, who made a rare visit to the Tulkarem refugee camp with Netanyahu last week, has announced that over 40,000 Palestinians expelled from the region would not be permitted to return to their homes. “I have instructed the military to prepare for a long stay over the coming year in the purged camps and not to allow residents to return and terrorism to grow back,” Katz said, ordering the UNRWA (UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees) to cease its operations. The move has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinian leaders and humanitarian officials, who warn of a deliberate attempt to permanently displace Palestinian residents and tighten Israel’s grip on the West Bank.
The recent military offensive has already displaced more Palestinians in the West Bank than at any point since the 1967 war, when three lakh people were uprooted. Beyond Jenin, Israeli forces have pushed into Qabatiya, Burqin and the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem, while raids have extended south to Kobar, Silwad, Beitunia and Hebron. Tactics adopted by the IDF include destruction of roads, stringent curfews, home seizures and arrests. The IDF has, however, denied claims of forced evacuations, with its spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani insisting that only specific buildings near suspected militant hideouts have been cleared, and that public movement remains largely unrestricted.
Palestinian officials and analysts see a broader agenda at play. Wasel Abu Yousef of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation accused Israel of using “collective punishment” to cement control over the West Bank and build more settlements. Political analyst Ahmad Abu al-Hija said the tank deployment was part of a strategy to dismantle refugee camps and erode the Palestinian right of return, a cornerstone of their national identity. “If the Jenin camp is dismantled, it sets a precedent for other camps, turning them into regular neighbourhoods under Israeli municipal systems,” he said.
Israel, meanwhile, claims that its actions target Iranian-backed militants threatening its security, a narrative bolstered by Katz’s assertion that the country is applying its “Gaza playbook” to the West Bank. This includes creating military corridors, just like the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza, to facilitate troop and equipment movement.
The escalation has strained an already tenuous ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza. Hamas official Basem Naim condemned the West Bank raids as a deliberate sabotage of peace efforts by Netanyahu, while analysts suggest the prime minister is bowing to pressure from far-right coalition partners like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. A West Bank settler himself, Smotrich has pushed for extending full Israeli sovereignty over settlements and has also framed security in the region a formal “war goal.” Donald Trump’s return to the White House has further emboldened such voices, with Smotrich citing it as an “important opportunity” to eliminate the prospect of a Palestinian state.
For Palestinians, the operation’s toll is stark. Jenin’s mayor, Mohammad Jarrar, told CNN that the military had demolished at least 120 homes, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. “This was a political agenda disguised as a security operation from the beginning,” he said. Palestinians are worried about a future of permanent displacement and deeper Israeli control over areas nominally governed by the Palestinian Authority, which exerts limited authority under occupation.
As tanks roll through Jenin and Netanyahu doubles down on his pledge to suppress armed resistance, the West Bank faces a difficult and uncertain future. With humanitarian agencies sounding the alarm and regional tensions simmering, Israel’s actions signal yet another redrawing of the map of the enduring Arab-Israeli conflict.