The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the operations, some of the most extensive in recent years, were likely to go on for some days, in what it described as a campaign to prevent attacks on Israelis.
Palestinian health authorities said 10 people had been killed in the Jenin and Tubas areas of the West Bank, and gun battles were reported to be continuing yesterday morning.
Hamas said 10 of its fighters had been killed in the West Bank.
The chief spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the escalation of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, at the same time as the war in Gaza, would "lead to dire and dangerous results".
"The world must take immediate and urgent action to curb this extremist government that poses a threat to the stability of the region and the world as a whole," Abu Rudeineh was reported as saying.
Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, said the operations were intended to "thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures". Israel claimed all those killed had been militants.
"Iran is working to establish an eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank, according to the Gaza and Lebanon model, by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan," Katz posted on X.
He suggested that evacuation orders for civilians should be issued for the West Bank, of the sort used to empty districts before IDF operations in Gaza.
This story is from the August 29, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the August 29, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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