Israeli forces conducted raids across the occupied West Bank, resulting in the deaths of at least nine Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials.

Mourners

The operation, which took place overnight, targeted multiple locations, including the volatile city of Jenin, which has been sealed off by Israeli forces. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that seven individuals were killed in Tubas, while two others lost their lives in Jenin.

The Israeli military described the operation as a counter-terrorism strike aimed at dismantling militant infrastructures. The war in Gaza erupted on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250.  

The militants are still holding some 110 hostages, around a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a November ceasefire.   Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Around 90 per cent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and Israeli bombardment and ground operations have caused vast destruction.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to mediate a ceasefire that would see the remaining hostages released.

But the talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “total victory” over Hamas and the militant group has demanded a lasting ceasefire and a full withdrawal from the territory.