Live: Trump threatens Gaza residents with death as his team holds direct talks with Hamas about captives

The Israeli army will stay in some occupied West Bank refugee camps for the "coming year", denying the return of some 40,000 forcibly expelled Palestinians to their homes, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday. 

“I instructed the IDF [Israeli army] to prepare for a long stay in the camps that were cleared for the coming year and not allow residents to return and the terror to return and grow,” Katz said.

His comment comes after the Israeli army said it had expanded its attacks in the West Bank by deploying a tank division there for the first time in over two decades. 

The Israeli occupation forces moved a unit of tanks into Jenin. pic.twitter.com/yBEXWgAkCT

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) February 23, 2025

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

It is now just after 11:00 AM in Palestine and Israel. Here are the latest updates:

• Israel has decided to postpone the scheduled release of more than 600 Palestinians on Saturday, who were set to be freed as part of the ongoing ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas. 

• The Palestinian movement on Sunday condemned the Israeli move. Hamas official Bassem Naim told AFP that Israel was "behaving like thugs" and the decision to delay the prisoners' release "exposes the entire agreement to grave danger".

• In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said it was deploying a tank division to the occupied West Bank city of Jenin for the first time since the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, which lasted between 2000-2005.