Civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud among six to be released this week • Israel will allow returns of Gazans to north

The sudden expansion of Israeli security operations in the West Bank has killed at least 10 people and follows the start of the delicate ceasefire process in Gaza, by which Israeli hostages are released in stages and will also see the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

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 health authorities said an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank killed at least 10 people late Wednesday. Israel’s use of a jet fighter to strike the rural village of Tamoun late Wednesday marked the latest escalation in its intensifying crackdown on Palestinian militants in the occupied territory.

Meanwhile, the major operation launched by Israeli forces on the city of Jenin left at least six dead and dozens more wounded, Palestinian health officials said, just days into a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza. It comes as Donald Trump said he is “not confident” that the temporary truce will hold.

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 Israeli military and Hamas said Monday that an air strike killed two fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.