Peter Suciu
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) deployed tanks to the occupied West Bank on Sunday as part of its expanded counter-terrorism efforts. Images posted online showed at least three Merkava main battle tanks (MBTs) near the city of Jenin. It marks the first time in more than two decades that tanks have been sent to the territory.
According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, the IDF will maintain a presence for at least a year, and will not allow upwards of 40,000 displaced Palestinians to return as part of the efforts to root out terror operatives.
“We will not return to the reality that was in the past. We will continue to clear refugee camps and other terror centers to dismantle the battalions and terror infrastructure of the extreme Islam that was built, armed, funded, and supported by the Iranian evil axis, in an attempt to establish an eastern terror front,” Katz added.
IDF tanks last deployed to the West Bank during 2002’s Operation Defensive Shield—a military incursion launched in response to the “Second Intifada” uprising from 2000 to 2005.
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