WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime’s occupation army has expanded shooting orders for its troops in the occupied West Bank, leading to a high Palestinian death toll amid military aggression in the occupied territory, Israeli media said.
According to Haaretz newspaper, the army’s Central Command decided to implement the same shooting policy used during the Gaza war to kill any unarmed Palestinian, whether a suspect or not, in the West Bank.
“The orders made it easier for soldiers to pull the trigger at the behest of Central Command Commander Avi Blot,” it added.
The newspaper quoted Zionist troops taking part in the ongoing military assault in the West Bank as saying that Blot permitted them to shoot with the intent to kill Palestinians without resorting to arresting them.
The troops explained that the recent high death toll of unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank was “unusual”, attributing it to Blot’s orders allowing them to shoot and kill any Palestinian suspected of planting explosive devices or “tampering with the land.”
Haaretz, citing army unit commanders, said the head of the army’s West Bank Division, Yaki Dolf, ordered soldiers to shoot at any vehicle “coming from a combat zone” and heading toward a checkpoint.
The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem said that the apartheid regime has been waging an “all-out war” on the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, since the start of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on January 19.
With U.S. support, the Zionist regime has committed genocide in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and 19 January this year, killing or wounding 160,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, with another 14,000 missing.
Since the start of this genocide, the Israeli army and Zionist settlers have expanded and escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Al-Quds, killing 909 Palestinians, wounding 7,000 and arresting 14,300 others, according to official Palestinian data. All settlements and settlers are illegal under international law.
The Israeli assault on the northern occupied West Bank has forcibly displaced 30,000 Palestinians from their homes in the past two weeks, local officials and media reports say.  
Jenin Deputy Governor Mansour al-Saad in remarks on Sunday confirmed that over 20,000 people from the city’s refugee camp had been displaced since the launch of the Israeli offensive 17 days ago.
“The [Zionist regime’s] occupation has entirely destroyed the Jenin refugee camp and forcibly displaced more than 20,000 residents, leaving behind their homes, documents, and personal belongings,” Jenin Deputy Governor Mansour al-Saadi told Voice of Palestine radio.
The Israeli attacks and destruction are “a conspiracy against the refugee issue aimed at erasing it entirely,” Saadi said.
The displaced residents are expected to seek shelter in other cities across the occupied West Bank, as destruction caused by the Israeli assault makes their return impossible.