ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK, 12 June. - (ANA) - Israel is planning to establish a permanent military base in the West Bank city of Jenin, marking a significant escalation in its presence within the occupied territory.

 

This would be the first time since the 1993 Oslo Accords that the Israeli army has established a fixed military installation in the West Bank’s Area A, which covers most Palestinian cities and is formally under the full political and security control of the Palestinian Authority.

 

The plans were disclosed by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday, saying it had obtained legal documents on the matter.

 

In one of the files, the Israeli army confirmed that the commander of its Central Command had "signed a land seizure order for the establishment of a military outpost near the Jenin refugee camp."

 

The document was part of a response that the army was forced to submit as a result of a legal petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) last September against the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from West Bank refugee camps.

 

 

The Israeli army claimed that the new permanent base was "intended to replace the presence of forces in residents' homes (in the Jenin refugee camp), and to regulate troop deployment in the area from a long-term perspective, as part of creating the operational conditions for a safe withdrawal from the refugee camp."

 

However, Haaretz quoted sources as saying that the Israeli army’s presence may also be intended to protect Israeli settlers who are planning to establish a foothold near Jenin. Israel's right-wing coalition government has been pushing plans for additional illegal settlements in the northern West Bank and areas surrounding the city.

 

The Israeli army rejected ACRI’s petition against extending the displacement of Palestinian residents from refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm, arguing that it needed “to establish security infrastructure that will preserve its freedom of operation in the camps”.

 

At least 33,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced over the past year from refugee camps in the northern West Bank, including Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams, according to UN figures. Human rights groups also report that hundreds of homes have been demolished in the same area since early 2025.

 

Israeli forces claim to be targeting “militants” and their infrastructure in the refugee camps and aims to preserve “freedom of military action” in the camps.

 

ACRI described the move as the largest displacement of people in the West Bank since Israel occupied the territory following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

 

“There is no justification in the army's response for the continued forced displacement of tens of thousands of people from their homes. The reduction of manpower allocated to the sector is not a legal justification for such severe harm to the human rights of thousands of displaced residents," ACRI attorney Hila Sharon said.

 

Amnesty International this week accused the Israeli government of deliberate ethnic cleansing, citing the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and grazing areas in Area C of the West Bank, which covers over 60% of the occupied territory and is under full Israeli control.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/12 June 2026 - - -