Israeli bulldozers have demolished large areas of the now virtually empty Jenin refugee camp and appear to be carving wide roadways through its once-crowded warren of alleyways, echoing tactics already employed in Gaza as troops prepare for a long-term stay.

Tanks sit outside Jenin refugee camp a day after Israel sent them into the West Bank:::: Jenin, West Bank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to carry out an "intensive" operation in the West Bank following explosions on buses close to Tel Aviv on Thursday (February 20),

Israeli tanks have moved into the occupied West Bank for the first time in decades in what Palestinian authorities call a “dangerous escalation.”

The Israel Defense Force confirmed Sunday that it has deployed tanks to the West Bank as it expands counter-terrorism operations in Jenin.

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said that 40,000 Palestinian residents displaced from militant hotbeds would not be allowed to return to their homes.

Israel’s military sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades as it expanded operations in the territory on Sunday in a move decried by Palestinian authorities as an escalation of aggression.

Israel says the move is to take on militants implanted in refugee camps but Palestinians accuse troops of permanently displacing the population.

A month-long sweep for Palestinian militants in the northern West Bank could continue for a year, Israel’s defense minister said, adding that residents who fled will be barred from returning and that a contested UN relief agency’s work there will be halted.