The sudden expansion of Israeli security operations in the West Bank has killed at least 10 people and follows the start of the delicate ceasefire process in Gaza, by which Israeli hostages are released in stages and will also see the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

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.

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

The announcement came shortly after President Trump rescinded Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists raided Palestinian villages in protest against the cease-fire in Gaza.

Israel’s military is using lessons from the Gaza war in its new West Bank operation to ensure “terrorism does not return,” according to Defense Minister Israel Katz.

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.

The United Nations secretary-general has warned that Israel might seize the opportunity to annex the occupied West Bank.

The city of Jenin, a Palestinian militant stronghold in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has become a new front for Israel days after it reached a ceasefire deal with Hamas that suspended a 15-month-old war in Gaza.

Israel is pressing ahead with a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian authorities accused Israel of "collective punishment" and said the raid was part of an Israeli plan aimed at "gradually annexing the occupied West Bank.