Israel's High Court Orders Plan for Palestinian Return Despite IDF Opposition

Israel's High Court of Justice ruled Monday in favor of a petition filed by Palestinian residents of Jenin and Tulkarem, ordering the state to prepare a plan and timetable for their return to refugee camps in northern Samaria, despite opposition from the IDF.

Justices Yitzhak Amit, Alex Stein, and Khaled Kabub instructed the state to "formulate a plan and timetable that will allow the residents of the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur a-Shams refugee camps to return to their homes," subject to "security needs and the situation on the ground."

The defense establishment opposed the move, arguing that "the time is not yet ripe for such a move."

The petition was filed against the head of the IDF Central Command, the defense minister, and the national security minister.

Over the past year and a half, the IDF has conducted extensive counterterrorism operations in refugee camps in the Palestinian cities of northern Samaria. Thousands of residents evacuated the areas at the IDF's request to avoid being harmed during operations targeting terrorist organizations that, according to the military, had established strongholds within the densely populated camps.

The IDF continues to operate in the area against terrorist infrastructure and operatives.

Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized the ruling, saying: "Irresponsible judges who don't understand the first thing about security are interfering again, exactly like before October 7 in Gaza, tying the IDF's hands and with their own hands bringing about the rebuilding of the Arab terror infrastructure in northern Samaria that was dismantled by our heroic soldiers under our direction as the political echelon."

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also condemned the decision, stating: "Responsibility for Israel's security lies in the hands of the political echelon and the authorized command level, not in the hands of High Court justices."

Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, warned that the ruling could undermine Israel's security.

"The High Court is harming Israel's security, bringing about the next October 7 with its own hands, in Netanya, in Kfar Yona and in Afula, and endangering thousands of soldiers who will have to capture the area all over again," Ganz said.

"These aren't refugee camps, these are terror camps that turned into fortresses, and terror battalions were built inside them. Thousands of soldiers risked their lives to dismantle them, and now the High Court is paving the way for them to be rebuilt. Terror fortresses need to be flattened, not rebuilt," he added.