At least 10 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 40 injured by Israeli forces during a major operation in the Jenin area in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

The Israeli military launched a large raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing nine people and injuring 40 others, according to Palestinian health officials.

At least 870 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 6,700 injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect Jan. 19 in Gaza, suspending the Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave.

Israel's Defence Minister announced strategic operations in Jenin, aiming to counter Iranian-backed militant groups. The military focuses on lessons learned from Gaza and improvised explosive devices.

A Palestinian official reported shooting and explosions in the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin as Israeli forces pressed a raid that the military described as a "counter terrorism" operation.

West Bank terrorist groups are a persistent and evolving security challenge for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. These groups’ numbers, arsenals, and capabilities have expanded dramatically since an initial surge of terrorist activity in June 2021.

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.

Palestinian Authority security forces are struggling to win the trust of residents of Jenin as they try to assert control over the city, a historic centre of Islamist militancy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The United States' new top diplomat Marco Rubio reaffirmed the country's "unwavering support" for Israel, days into a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank.

The Al Jazeera news network says the Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters after preventing him from covering an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian security forces have detained Mohammed al-Atrash after preventing him from covering the continuing Israeli operation in the city of Jenin, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Thursday.According to the report, the PA said the ban was imposed over “inciting” material, “misinformation, sedition and interference in Palestinian internal affairs.”Al Jazeera denied the allegations, saying the arrest was “in line with the [Israeli] occupation’s actions against its staff.”