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.

Israel expands its campaign against militancy in the Palestinian territory after more than 15 months of deadly war in Gaza.

Israel's defence minister said on Tuesday forces were applying lessons learned in Gaza as a major operation continued in Jenin which the military said was aimed at countering Iranian-backed militant groups in the volatile West Bank city.

As many as 600 people were held in a hospital overnight, the mayor of the city of Jenin told a Palestinian news agency. The death toll from the two-day operation rose to 10, officials said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assault on Jenin would be “extensive and significant,” as the military erected new checkpoints across the West Bank.

The action came a day after President Donald Trump said he will lift sanctions on ultranationalist Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinian villages.

Repeating the tactics used in its criminal war of genocide in Gaza, Israeli forces have surrounded the Khalil Suleiman governmental hospital. Residents in several Jenin neighbourhoods were ordered to leave their homes,

The West Bank city of Jenin was the target of an ongoing Israeli "anti-terror" operation that claimed the lives of at least 10 Palestinians and injured as many as 40 others.

The Israeli military launched a large raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing nine people and injuring 40 others, according to Palestinian health officials.

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire appears to be holding as many Palestinians venture to where their homes once stood to dig in the rubble. CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer reports.