Israeli forces to remain in Jenin, airstrike in West Bank kills 10

Israeli troops will remain in the Palestinians' Jenin refugee camp once the large-scale raid they launched last week is complete, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday, as an Israeli airstrike killed 10 the West Bank's Tubas. 

Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters, drones and armoured vehicles have been fighting sporadic gunbattles with Palestinian while carrying out searches in the streets and alleyways for weapons and equipment.

"The Jenin refugee camp will not be what it was," Katz said during a visit to the refugee camp. "After the operation is completed, IDF forces will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return."

He did not give details and a military spokesperson declined to comment.

Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday killed at least 10 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, in an attack which the Israeli military said targeted armed fighters.

The airstrike was in the area of Tubas, in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned what it called Katz's "provocative" statement and called for international pressure on Israel to stop the operation, which has already been condemned by countries including France and Jordan.

Israeli forces went into Jenin immediately after the start of a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, saying it aimed to hit groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which receive support from Iran.

Israel regards the West Bank as one part of a multi-front war against Iranian-backed groups established around its borders, from Gaza to Lebanon and including the Houthis in Yemen, and it turned its attention to the area immediately after the halt to fighting in Gaza.

At least 17 Palestinians, including six members of armed groups and a two-year-old girl, have been killed in Jenin and the surrounding villages during the operation, according to Palestinian officials.

The military said forces had killed at least 18 fighters and detained 60 wanted individuals, dismantling over 100 explosive devices and seizing a weapons manufacturing workshop.

An investigation into the death of the girl is still ongoing, a spokesperson said.

Within the camp, dozens of houses have been demolished and roads have been dug up by special armoured bulldozers, driving thousands of people from their homes. Water has been cut and Palestinian officials say at least 80 per cent of the camp's inhabitants have been forced to leave their homes.