Israel’s military sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades as it expanded operations in the territory on Sunday in a move decried by Palestinian authorities as an escalation of aggression.

Israeli tanks have moved into the occupied West Bank for the first time in decades in what Palestinian authorities call a “dangerous escalation.”

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said that 40,000 Palestinian residents displaced from militant hotbeds would not be allowed to return to their homes.