He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the United Nations which said the offensive has killed at least 51 Palestinians including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers.
Islamic Jihad accused Israel of attempting to consolidate “military domination by creating settler corridors that reinforce the separation of West Bank cities and their camps”.
The West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, is home to around three million Palestinian as well as nearly half a million Israelis who live in settlements that are illegal under international law.
Israeli tanks have not operated there since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or “uprising”, in 2005.
Bus bombs
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to step up its operations in the West Bank, after bombs had exploded on several empty buses in Israel, causing no injuries.
Israeli officials said the explosives resembled those used by West Bank militants.
In both Tulkarem and Jenin, the army has demolished dozens of homes with explosives, opening up new access routes into the densely built camps.
Armoured bulldozers have wreaked havoc, upturning tarmac, cutting water pipes and tearing down roadside facades.
The military says the bulldozers are meant to clear roads of explosives.
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© 2025 AFP
