Nine Palestinians have been killed and 35 injured by Israeli forces during a major operation in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Palestinian media reported that there were a series of air strikes as a large number of troops moved in to the city and its refugee camp, backed by drones, helicopters and armoured bulldozers.

Israel’s prime minister said it launched an “extensive and significant” operation to “defeat terrorism” in Jenin, long seen as a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups.

It comes three days after the start of a ceasefire in Gaza and highlights the threat of more violence in the West Bank, where suspected Israeli settlers also went on the rampage overnight

Jenin’s governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP news agency that “what is happening is an invasion of the camp”, adding: “It came quickly, Apache [helicopters] in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere.”