Eight people were killed in the occupied West Bank during an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin, an area excluded from the recent Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Israel characterized the operation as a "significant and broad military action" targeting Palestinian militants. The raid occurred just two days after a ceasefire agreement, aimed at halting Gaza bombings in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages, came into effect.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that eight people were killed and 35 wounded in Jenin, where Israeli forces have conducted repeated raids.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the West Bank, suspected Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian villages, torching cars and properties. Officials in Jinsafut and Al-Funduq, about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, described dozens of masked men storming homes and businesses.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated 12 individuals who had been beaten during the attacks. Israel's military stated that the men had thrown rocks at soldiers and announced an investigation into the incidents.
Just hours later, Donald Trump lifted U.S. sanctions against Israelis accused of violence in the West Bank.
The sanctions, imposed by the Biden administration, were aimed at penalizing radical settlers. Their reversal signals a potential Trump presidency more permissive of Israel's settlement expansion.
The events unfolded as Israel's military chief of staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, announced his resignation, citing failures to prevent the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Those attacks resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths in southern Israel and 250 hostages taken.
The attacks provoked a massive Israeli military response, with Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry reporting over 47,000 Palestinian deaths in the densely populated territory.
