Israel Expands West Bank Offensive, Clears Refugee Camps

The IDF’s crackdown on Hamas’s and Islamic Jihad’s strongholds have displaced thousands of Palestinians.

People look on as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank on Feb. 23, 2025. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images

The Israeli military has been expelling inhabitants from refugee camps in Samaria, the northern part of the West Bank, as part of stepped-up operations against Palestinian terrorist groups.

This comes as Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Feb. 23 that he'd ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to expand operations in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur al-Shams. That same day, the IDF sent tanks into the West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years.