Israeli forces have deployed their tanks in the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years as part of an intensified military offensive that has displaced 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in the north.

Israel said on Sunday its troops would stay in the West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations, including tank deployments.

Just after the ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip about a month ago, the Israeli military launched a major raid against Palestinian fighters in the West Bank. The operation spans multiple refugee camps near the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.

“So far, 40,000 Palestinians have evacuated from the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams, which are now empty of residents,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

“I have instructed [troops] to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism,” he added.

According to the United Nations, the Israeli offensive has so far killed at least 51 Palestinians, including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers, as well as displacing at least 40,000 people.

The military announced on Sunday that “a tank division will operate in Jenin” as part of “expanding” operations in the area.

It is the first time that tanks have moved into the territory since the end of the second Intifada, or uprising, in 2005.

“The Nahal [infantry] Brigade and [elite] Duvdevan Unit forces have begun to intervene in other villages” in the north of the territory, Katz’s statement said, adding that they “are continuing their operations in the Jenin and Tulkarem regions”.

In Tulkarem and Jenin, the army demolished dozens of homes with explosives, opening up new access routes into the densely built camps. Armoured bulldozers wreaked havoc, upturning tarmac, cutting water pipes, and tearing down roadside facades.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 900 Palestinians, including many fighters, in the territory since the start of the conflict, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.