JENIN, West Bank — Israeli tanks moved into the occupied West Bank on Sunday for the first time in decades in what Palestinian authorities called a “dangerous escalation,” after the defense minister said troops will remain in parts of the territory for a year and tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled cannot return.

Associated Press journalists saw tanks move along unpaved tracks into Jenin, long a bastion of armed struggle against Israel.

Israel is deepening its crackdown on the Palestinian territory and has said it is determined to stamp out militancy amid a rise in attacks. It launched the offensive in the northern West Bank on Jan. 21 — two days after the ceasefire in Gaza took hold — and has expanded it to nearby areas.

Palestinians view such raids as part of an effort to cement Israeli control over the territory, where 3 million Palestinians live under military rule. The deadly raids have caused destruction in urban areas.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to “increase the intensity of the activity to thwart terrorism” in all West Bank refugee camps.

“We will not allow the return of residents, and we will not allow terrorism to return and grow,” he said.

Earlier, Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare for “an extended stay” in some of the West Bank’s urban refugee camps, from where he said about 40,000 Palestinians have fled, leaving the areas “emptied of residents.” That figure was confirmed by the United Nations.

The camps are home to descendants of Palestinians who fled or were forced to flee decades ago during wars with Israel. Katz said the troops would stay “for the coming year.” Netanyahu said they would stay “as long as needed.”

Tanks were last deployed in the territory in 2002, when Israel fought a deadly Palestinian uprising.

The Palestinian foreign ministry called the Israeli moves “a dangerous escalation of the situation in the West Bank” and urged the international community to intervene in what it termed Israel’s illegal “aggression.”

“Even if they stay, we will return to the camp at the end,” said Mohamed al-Sadi, one of those displaced from Jenin. “This camp is ours. We have no other place to go.”

Under interim peace agreements from the early 1990s, Israel maintains control over large parts of the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority administers other areas. Israel regularly sends troops into Palestinian zones but typically withdraws them once missions are completed.

Violence has surged in the West Bank throughout the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has carried out raids, but with fighting in Gaza and Lebanon on hold, Netanyahu has been under pressure from far-right governing partners to crack down on militancy in the West Bank.

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war in Gaza erupted Oct. 7, 2023, with a Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians want all three territories for their future independent state.

With a week left in the ceasefire’s first phase, Israel and Hamas do not appear to have begun negotiations on its second one. The truce’s collapse could lead to renewed fighting in Gaza, where Netanyahu said 63 hostages remain.

The U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told CNN on Sunday he expects the second phase to go forward when he visits the region this week.

Israel said early Sunday that it is delaying the latest release of Palestinian prisoners until it gets assurances that Hamas will stop what Israel calls “humiliating” handovers of hostages.

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi said Sunday the group will not engage in further talks with Israel through mediators until Israel releases the 620 prisoners meant to be freed Saturday.