Earlier on Monday, Ahmed al-Amouri, 56, saw three Israeli tanks roll into his occupied West Bank homeland.
The last time he saw the tank was over 20 years ago, when Israel tried to crush the second Intifada in 2002.
This time the scene seemed to cause more humor than the alarm.
He joined bystanders who took selfies in front of armored vehicles and fired rocks as they entered Jenin.
“There’s no point in bringing these tanks all the way here. The city is sky!” said the father of five.
“Me and thousands of other people have already been kicked out and unless they’re fighting their own demons, they can’t find anyone to fight in camp,” he said.
He follows the tanks of Wad Burkeen, the village where he currently resides, and is about a 10-minute walk from his home in Jenin Camp, where he was kicked out along with 14 members of his family on January 26th. .
The West Bank refugee camp hosts thousands of Palestinians whose ancestors had been ethnically cleansed by Zionist gangs in order to give way to the Declaration of the Israeli State in 1948.
Over the years, armed resistance emerged there. In 2002, Israeli tanks bulldozed alleys in these camps, so fighters were ready with booby traps and ambush.
However, they found no resistance as three tanks rolled into Jenin this week and became stationed in the Al-Jaburiyat district.
Political, not tactical
The deployment of the tank comes after more than a month of Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank, known as the “Iron Wall Operation.”
According to analysts, Israel’s motivation is seen as a political rather than security-driven, and a move to appease far-right Israeli politicians who are angry at the ceasefire.
The attack on the West Bank killed at least 61 people and expelled more than 40,000 since late January.
“The war in Gaza and now the war in the West Bank are part of Israel’s collective punishment strategy,” said Wasser Abu Youssef, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Agency’s Executive Committee.
“The destruction of Palestinian cities and evacuation of residents is a political manipulation designed to strengthen Israel’s grip on occupied territory,” he added, paving the way for the construction of more illegal Israeli settlements. He added.
Testing Israel’s long-term plan
Analysts say that Jenin’s latest developments are testing its vision for the West Bank, especially since Israeli Defense Minister Katz said those expelled from refugee camps will not return. .
According to Palestinian political analyst Ahmad Abu al-Hija, the deployment of the tank is part of Israel’s strategy to restructure the structure of security and governance in the West Bank.
“What’s going on with Jenin is… it could redefine Israel’s control and integrate elements of the Palestinian authorities’ security forces into an Israeli-controlled framework,” he said.
These attacks also have connections to Israel’s push to dismantle the concept of refugee camps and Palestinian refugees, he added.
“Eliminating UNRWA is part of erasing the right to return of Palestinians. If the Jenin camps were demolished, it would set precedents for other camps on the West Bank and make them a regular urban area. “We will turn it into and force Palestinians to integrate into the Israeli-controlled city system,” he explained.
Far-right pressure and West Bank annexation
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the West Bank escalation serves as a political distraction despite his far-right partner, as he faces growing domestic unrest over the handling of the Gaza War and the ceasefire.
His far-right allies, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gwil, have long called for the annexation of the West Bank and the expulsion of Palestinians.
“Netanyahu is trying to survive politically by providing military escalations as a concession to the far-right coalition,” said Suleiman Basharat, director of the Yabs Center for Strategic Studies.
“Deploying a tank to Jenin is a sight designed to send a message to his base that he is taking decisive action,” and “stimulating and submission to the Palestinians.”
“By deploying heavy military machines, we aim to create an inevitable sense of control of the West Bank.”
Manufactured Crisis
Palestinian analyst Ahmed Rafiq Awad is the director of the Al-Kud Centre for Political Studies Centre, and while Israel aims to portray military operations as a necessary security measure, the Jordan River He said excessive forces used in the West Bank risked controlling Palestinian resistance.
“The level of atrocities we see — mass arrests, demolition of homes, continuous assaults — could drive Palestinians into another uprising,” Basharat warned.
“If Israel continues to carry on this level of violence, it may be possible to return to similar popular conflicts as the first and second Intifadas.”
In a “muted” response from the international community, Awad said, “If there is no real outcome, Netanyahu and his far-right allies will expand their settlement, erase refugee camps, and occupy them under the guise of security. “We will establish this.”
For Palestinians like Al Amouri, the presence of Israeli tanks in Jenin is a harsh reminder of the deepening occupation.
“We’ve lived under their professions for the rest of our lives. This is nothing new. In fact, this is just too familiar,” he said.
This work was released in collaboration with EGAB.
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