IDF confirms at least 13,000 Palestinians evacuated from refugee camps in Samaria, DM Katz says no return allowed

Alongside the IDF's announcement about expanded Operation Iron Wall counter-terror activities in northern Samaria on Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed that Israeli security forces had evacuated 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in the area. 

“I have instructed the IDF to prepare for a prolonged stay in the camps that have been cleared for the coming year – and not to allow residents to return and terrorism to grow again,” Katz said in an official Ministry of Defense statement. 

He added: “40,000 Palestinians have so far evacuated from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur a-Shams refugee camps, and they are currently empty of residents.” 

In his statement, Katz declared that “UNRWA activities in the camps have also been suspended.” 

The statement appeared to be a significant increase from the expected numbers and to contradict recent statements by the IDF. 

The Jerusalem Post reported that IDF sources told them Katz is using numbers from the “unreliable UN Relief and Works Agency data.” 

Those same IDF sources told the JPost that the military estimates that only between 13,000-14,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from the camps while security forces complete counter-terror operations there. 

The IDF has consistently emphasized that the evacuations are voluntary and temporary, which appeared to be at odds with Katz’s claim that the IDF would “not allow residents to return.” 

The expanded operation came just days after an attempted mass bus bombing attack was prevented due to a combination of observant passengers and a mistake in the timing mechanisms of several of the bombs. 

Israeli security forces believe the bombing attack was planned and carried out by terror cells in northern Samaria, especially in the area of Tulkarm. 

According to the JPost, Katz may have been attempting to demonstrate a hard-line stance, popular with supporters of the coalition government.

However, some in Israel fear that Katz’s statement could attract greater scrutiny from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and that if residents were forcibly evacuated against their will, and barred from returning, it may even be considered a war crime.

The ongoing, unusually intense operations in Judea and Samaria have drawn much international media attention, with many likening their intensity to the fighting in Gaza.

The IDF also reintroduced the use of tanks in the Jenin area, for the first time in more than 20 years.

On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern regarding the increase in operations, which have displaced thousands of Palestinians.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply concerned with the impact of ongoing security operations on the civilian population in Jenin and Tulkarem, Tubas and other locations in northern West Bank,” the organization said, noting that “people are struggling to access basic needs such as clean water, food, medical care and shelter.”

At the time of publication, neither Katz's office nor the IDF had responded to The Jerusalem Post's request for clarification regarding the difference between Katz’s figures and those of the military. 

Among Palestinians, there are concerns that the deployment of tanks to the area, and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinian residents, could be a prelude to a larger operation, similar to those against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

Despite the criticism, Israeli operations showed no signs of letting up. In the past several days, Israeli forces operated in Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur a-Shams, Nablus, Qabatiya, and Deir Qaddis, among other areas.

Over the weekend, Israeli troops captured 26 terrorists, confiscated three guns and additional weapons, and questioned several suspected individuals, the IDF reported.

On Saturday, the IDF intercepted an attempt to smuggle 15 M-16 rifles into Israel through the Jordan Valley, which "were intended to be used by criminal individuals or terrorist organizations, posing a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel."

“We will not return to the reality that existed in the past,” stressed Katz.

“We will continue to clear refugee camps and other terrorist centers in order to dismantle the battalions and terrorist infrastructures of radical Islam that were built, armed, financed and trained by the Iranian axis of evil – in an attempt to establish an eastern terrorist front against the settlements of Samaria and the seam line and the large population centers in Israel. We will continue our activities until terrorism is defeated.”