IDF expands security operations in Judea & Samaria, considers permanent deployment in refugee camps

On Sunday, the IDF expanded its “Iron Wall” counterterrorism operation to the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in the Tulkarem area. 

As part of counterterrorism efforts there, security forces of the military and Shin Bet arrested hundreds of suspects and confiscated about 70 weapons from within the so-called refugee camp. 

The refugee camps in the Palestinian territories started off as genuine camps, as Arab residents fled ahead of or during the beginning of armed conflict during the 1948 War for Independence. However, starting in the 1950s, the camps were built up with houses, apartment buildings, and commercial structures. They are still considered to be separate from the municipalities of the neighboring towns and cities.

With the dramatic increase in terror activity in the Palestinian Territories in Judea and Samaria, going back to 2022, the IDF is reportedly considering permanent deployments for soldiers in several hotspots, including the Tulkarm area, where Israeli security forces have concentrated much of their activities in the past three weeks. 

According to a report in Ynet, the military is evaluating the possibility of assigning a dedicated battalion specifically to the Tulkarm and Nur al-Shams region, as well as the establishment of rapid deployment outposts within the camps. 

The purpose of such a battalion, is to maintain a continuous and intensified operational presence in an area that has seen a significant increase in terror activity. Doing so would allow for a quicker response to arising threats, disrupt terror organizations’ attempts to expand influence and infrastructure, as well as interfere with attempts to build networks between the different terror groups. 

As part of Operation Iron Wall, military and security forces have evacuated much of the population of the refugee camps. While the UN claimed that 40,000 Palestine Refugees have been forcibly displaced from their homes in the Tulkarm, Nur Shams, and El Far’a camps, the IDF has not released any data on the number of Palestinians fleeing the camps. 

Kan news correspondent Nurit Yohanan, said that at least 25,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from their homes in the camps as the IDF attempts to remove civilians from the areas of conflict with the terror groups. 

Yohanan said that while Israeli security forces also allowed “residents to leave via safe routes during Operation 'Summer Camps' in August, this time the numbers are larger.” 

Nurit also noted that some Palestinians she talked to said they left during the Palestinian Authority’s security operation, which happened shortly before the military began its own operation there. 

One resident of the area told her that “at least 90% of the residents left” during the operations in the Jenin camp, which was where Operation Iron Wall started. 

Estimates among Israeli media are that around the same number of residents have fled from the conflict in the Tulkarm camps, or around 10,000 people. 

Some of the residents who leave are afraid to come back, not knowing when the conflict will erupt again as terror groups try to reestablish themselves following the departure of the IDF troops. 

During Operation Iron Wall, there have been consistent reports of PA security forces working together with Israeli security forces to fight the terror groups aligned with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

However, that cooperation has not prevented the PA from accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in Judea and Samaria by calling for residents to evacuate the camps. Israeli media reported that in some cases, PA security officers worked with the IDF to escort residents to safety. 

Still, last week, PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said PA President Mahmoud Abbas “condemned the occupation authorities’ expansion of their comprehensive war on our Palestinian people in the West Bank to implement their plans aimed at displacing citizens and ethnic cleansing.”