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.

As many as 600 people were held in a hospital overnight, the mayor of the city of Jenin told a Palestinian news agency. The death toll from the two-day operation rose to 10, officials said.

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

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The announcement came shortly after President Trump rescinded Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists raided Palestinian villages in protest against the cease-fire in Gaza.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 expands its campaign against militancy in the Palestinian territory after more than 15 months of deadly war in Gaza.

The Israeli military killed at least seven Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as the prime minister announced the start of a “large-scale military operation” in the restive city of Jenin.

The West Bank city of Jenin was the target of an ongoing Israeli "anti-terror" operation that claimed the lives of at least 10 Palestinians and injured as many as 40 others.