JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/GAZA - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that he had instructed the military to expand offensive activity in the West Bank and prepare to capture another Palestinian refugee camp and evacuate its residents.

In a statement, Katz said the takeover of the additional camp, whose name was not disclosed, would follow the same model used in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps early last year, where residents were evacuated, militant infrastructure was dismantled, and Israeli forces remain permanently stationed.

The statement claimed the operations had led to an 80 percent decrease in "terrorist" activity in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Katz said in an interview with Israel's Channel 14 that Israel plans to expand the number of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, with dozens of new communities set to be established.

He also said in the interview that US military fighter jets have been taking off from Israel to attack Iran, while reiterating that Israel was prepared to retaliate if targeted.

Katz added that the Israeli military will not withdraw from the areas it holds in the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon.

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On Tuesday, Hamas condemned Katz's call to destroy another refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, representing "a genocidal and criminal mentality".

The movement said in a statement that Israel's ongoing operations across West Bank cities and refugee camps would not deter Palestinians from their "steadfastness, resistance and confrontation", and urged the international community to monitor Israeli actions and hold its leaders accountable.

Meanwhile, Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh warned Tuesday that Israel's demolition of homes and structures across the West Bank is part of a settlement project aimed at annexation and the forced displacement of Palestinians.

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Fattouh said in a press statement that the widespread demolitions over the past two days, displacing dozens of Palestinian families, reflected "a systematic policy of demographic cleansing" intended to impose "new colonial realities" in the occupied Palestinian territory.