The Israeli military is expanding its operations in the occupied West Bank and will remain in some refugee camps for the “coming year,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday.

Israel has ordered its military to prepare for an "extended stay" in parts of the occupied West Bank as it steps up operations against Palestinian militant groups, the Israeli defence minister said on Sunday.

Israel's defense minister says he has instructed the military to prepare to remain in some of the occupied West Bank’s urban refugee camps “for the coming year.” The comments by Israel Katz Sunday come as Israel is intensifying an offensive in the Palestinian territory and as the ceasefire that paused the Gaza war is holding.

Israel on Sunday said troops would stay in West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations including tank deployments, after the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Israel says it is scaling up a weekslong offensive in the occupied West Bank, sending in tanks to a militant stronghold and pledging to keep troops in place for the next year in areas where Palestinians have fled.