Israeli troops kill six in West Bank operation, Palestinian officials say

A Palestinian stands beside a torched car in the aftermath of an attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Jinsafut (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israel has launched a large military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that the Palestinian Health Ministry said had killed at least six people and injured 35.

Israel announced a “significant and broad military operation” against Palestinian militants in the city. Jenin has seen repeated Israeli incursions and gun battles with militants in recent years, even before Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack ignited the war in Gaza.

The latest operation came just days into a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza that is supposed to last for six weeks and see 33 militant-held hostages released in return for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinians seek an independent state encompassing all three territories.