At least 10 people have been killed in the raids, and more than 40 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Dozens have been arrested, Palestinian officials told the Wafa news agency.

Israel’s defense minister has announced a series of raids that he says are targeting “terrorism” in the occupied West Bank, as Palestinian officials warned of a “man-made disaster.”

As Israel withdraws some of its troops from Gaza during a cease-fire there, it has turned attention to another Palestinian territory — in particular a city with a history of militant activity.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assault on Jenin would be “extensive and significant,” as the military erected new checkpoints across the West Bank.

Days into the Gaza ceasefire, the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service has signalled that the country's focus is switching to Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank. Ronen Bar said Israel was in the midst of a multi-front campaign, but that "right now, it's Samaria's [northern West Bank] time".

The action came a day after President Donald Trump said he will lift sanctions on ultranationalist Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinian villages.

A Palestinian official said hundreds of people began leaving their homes in a flashpoint area of the West Bank on Thursday as Israeli forces pressed a deadly operation there

In the days since a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged through two Palestinian towns.

Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state, since the 1967 Middle East war. It has built Jewish settlements