IDF builds first permanent military post in Palestinian-controlled West Bank since 1990s

Israeli soldiers during a military operation in Jenin camp 8 July 2025

Chen Maanit and Yarden Michaeli report in Haaretz on 11 June 2026:

The Israeli army is establishing a permanent military outpost in the West Bank city of Jenin, according to legal documents obtained by Haaretz.

It marks the first time since the 1993 Oslo Accords that the IDF has built a permanent post in Area A, which is under the Palestinian Authority’s full civil and security control.

In one of the documents, the army stated that “on May 7, 2026, the commander of the IDF Central Command signed a land seizure order for the establishment of a military outpost near the Jenin refugee camp.”

The IDF’s response was submitted as part of a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in September against the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from refugee camps in the West Bank.

The IDF said the outpost 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, sources familiar with developments on the ground told Haaretz that the army outpost is also likely intended to help protect Israeli settlers who are returning to live in the Jenin area.

In recent months, the Israeli government has advanced plans to establish Jewish settlements in the northern West Bank. In December and March, ministers approved the re-establishment of settlements evacuated under the 2005 disengagement plan, following the repeal of parts of the Disengagement Law in the northern West Bank in March 2023.

The IDF rejected the petition seeking to prevent the extension of closure orders barring Palestinian residents from returning to the refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur al-Shams. The army argued that it must carry out “a range of measures to establish security infrastructure that will preserve its freedom of operation in the camps and prevent militant groups from rebuilding their infrastructure after troops withdraw.”

IDF representatives further argued that the land seizure order in the Jenin refugee camp was signed after a “structured staff work process” on the establishment of the outpost, and after receiving all necessary approvals within the army and outside it. The order is valid until October 4. “In these circumstances, and in order not to endanger the security forces working to establish the outpost, given the security events currently taking place in the camp area against IDF forces, it was decided to prohibit entry into the area where the works are being carried out, to secure the construction works,” it said.

For more than a year, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur al-Shams. In January last year, the IDF launched Operation Iron Wall in the West Bank, with the stated goals of preserving freedom of military action across the territory and targeting militant infrastructure and what it described as “ticking bombs.” As part of the operation, large numbers of homes in the camps were also demolished.

As part of the operation, many homes in the camps were also demolished. According to UN data submitted as part of the petition, more than 33,000 Palestinians are still displaced from their homes.

ACRI has described the situation as “the largest wave of displacement in the West Bank since 1967.” In a petition currently pending before Israel’s High Court of Justice, the organization argued that shortly after the operation began, the military oversaw the mass displacement of residents from areas it had taken control of. Within weeks, the refugee camps were emptied of tens of thousands of men, women, elderly people and children.

According to ACRI, the army and state’s conduct means that while tens of thousands of displaced residents continue to live away from their homes with no clear prospect of return, the military is entrenching its presence in and around the refugee camps. The organization argues that this constitutes a clear violation of Israel’s obligations toward the residents under international law.

Attorney Hila Sharon from ACRI said, “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.”

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