Israel Embarks on an ‘Extensive’ Military Operation in the West Bank

Israeli security forces on Tuesday embarked on a military operation in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as Israel turned its focus to an area seen as a hotbed of militancy just days after a temporary cease-fire took hold in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement that the operation, the latest in a string of West Bank raids over the past year, was aimed at “eradicating terrorism” and would be “extensive and significant.” The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry reported that eight people had been killed and at least 35 injured during the first hours of the operation.

For Mr. Netanyahu, the operation in the West Bank could serve as a distraction from Gaza, where Hamas gunmen paraded through the streets even before the cease-fire started on Sunday, a show of force signaling that it had survived the 15-month war despite Mr. Netanyahu’s vows to destroy it.

But with its strength severely diminished in Gaza, Hamas has intensified its efforts to arm militants in the West Bank to open another front against Israel, analysts said, making an Israeli offensive there almost inevitable.

The Jenin operation comes amid sharply rising tensions in the West Bank, as the militants have grown in power and settler violence against Palestinian civilians has soared.

On Monday, President Trump rescinded sanctions imposed by the Biden administration last year on dozens of far-right Israeli individuals and settler groups accused of violence against Palestinians and the seizure or destruction of Palestinian property.