Israel has deployed tanks to the occupied West Bank, further intensifying the assault that has forcibly displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians as Israeli officials are vowing a “prolonged” operation in the area.

In raids on Sunday and Monday, Israel sent tanks into Jenin as part of its “Operation Iron Wall” campaign launched last month. This is the first time Israel has deployed tanks into the occupied West Bank since the end of the second Intifada in 2005.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that he’s ordered the military “to prepare for a prolonged presence” and “prevent the return of residents” to their homes.

Permanently expelling people from their homes is a war crime. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israel’s use of tanks in the region is a “prelude to expanding its crimes against the Palestinian people.”

“The Ministry views these developments — including Katz’s statements, the deployment of tanks, and the deliberate intimidation of defenseless civilians — as a grave escalation in the West Bank and a flagrant attempt to entrench genocide and forced displacement against our unarmed people,” the ministry said.

The escalation came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an “intensive operation” in the West Bank as retaliation for a series of bus explosions in Israel — despite it being unclear who was responsible for the explosions, which caused no injuries.

Israel intensified its operations in the West Bank in January, just two days after the Gaza ceasefire deal went into effect. As part of its ethnic cleansing campaign in the West Bank, Israel has forcibly displaced an estimated 40,000 Palestinians and has been conducting widespread demolitions of homes and civilian infrastructure like water and electrical lines. Israeli forces are also tearing up streets using bulldozers.

According to Jenin Mayor Mohammad Jarrar, Israeli forces have totally destroyed over 100 residential buildings and partially destroyed hundreds more, with each building housing multiple apartments.

The Israeli military has killed at least 27 people in the northern West Bank since the beginning of the escalation on January 19. Israel has also detained 380 Palestinians in the northern West Bank since the escalation, including numerous children, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Advocates for Palestinian rights have warned that Israeli forces’ actions in the West Bank are an extension of their tactics in their genocide in Gaza, and are a sign of Israel’s intent to further its control over the West Bank.

“This is a prelude to full annexation, and makes a mockery of the ceasefire agreement that Israel continues to violate,” said British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn. “We are witnessing ethnic cleansing — and our government’s ongoing failure to defend international law is utterly, utterly shameful.”

“The destruction is the point, just like it was in Gaza. Soon they’ll be saying the West Bank is unlivable and Palestinians should ‘leave,’” Middle East expert Assal Rad said on social media. “It has always been about the land, it has always been a war against Palestinian existence.”

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