Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the West Bank to combat what the army said was terrorist activity, the latest series of hostilities in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war in Gaza.

Nine Palestinians have been killed and 11 have been injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which said Israeli soldiers blocked access to hospitals and destroyed infrastructure in towns of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem.

The Israel Defense Forces said the raids, which began early on Wednesday, were aimed at attacking militants. It said it killed five militants, including one released from prison as part of an exchange for Hamas-held hostages in Gaza in November.

Israeli forces have stepped up operations in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel from Gaza, a separate Palestinian territory.

An Israeli military spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, said Iran has been smuggling weapons into the West Bank as part of its effort to undermine the Jewish state, and this week’s operation is a pre-emptive strike. His comments on Iran — and similar ones by Foreign Minister Israel Katz on X — could not be corroborated.

Iran sponsors Hamas and other regional militant groups fighting Israel, including Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are considered terrorist organizations by the U.S.

The IDF’s move “will not bring security and stability to anyone, and everyone will pay the price,” Nabil Abu Rudineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, based in the West Bank, said.

Hamas, though a statement on Telegram, said “resistance operations in the West Bank are escalating.”

“This situation can only be addressed by open conflict,” it said. It called for mass protests in the West Bank and elsewhere in the Arab world in support of Hamas.

The West Bank has seen a significant rise in violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with more IDF operations happening alongside clashes between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government has approved the expansion of settlements in recent months, worsening tensions.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 650 West Bank Palestinians had been killed since October and 5,400 injured before this week’s operation. Movement restrictions have further exacerbated problems in the territory, limiting access to essential health services.

Shoshani, the IDF spokesperson, said there has been a spike in anti-Israel violence in the northern part of the West Bank with scores of shootings and attacks originating there in the past year. He said the groups involved included Hamas and others funded by Iran.

The economic situation in the West Bank has deteriorated dramatically since October. More than 178,000 Palestinian workers have lost their jobs after being banned from entering Israel for security reasons. Many of them worked on Israeli construction sites.

Hamas fighters killed 1,200 and took around 250 hostage with their Oct. 7 attack. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

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(With assistance from Julius Domoney.)

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