From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 12, 2026
High Court instructs IDF to provide timetable for return of Palestinians displaced in northern West Bank
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The High Court of Justice has instructed the Defense Ministry and the IDF to provide a timetable for the return of displaced Palestinians in the northern West Bank to their homes amid the ongoing counterterror operations in the region.
In 2025, the IDF launched a major counterterror operation in Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams, clearing them of residents, saying they served as hotbeds of terror activity.
The operation led to the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians, who have not been allowed to return.
In a new decision, the court accepts that security conditions are not yet ripe to allow residents to return, but instructs the army to present a timetable for when such a return could happen.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich blasts the court, accusing it of “endangering Israel’s security.”
“I call on the prime minister and my colleague the defense minister to instruct the IDF not to cooperate with the court and not to allow the terror camps to be reestablished,” he says in a statement.
The Times of Israel Community.