RAMALLAH, Palestine

At least 33 Palestinians have been killed and 140 others injured in a major Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank since last week, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

“Seven children and two elderly people were among the victims,” the ministry added in a statement.

The highest death toll was recorded in Jenin city with 19 fatalities, the ministry said.

The Israeli army last week launched its largest military operation in the northern West Bank in two decades, causing massive destruction in the area.

Jenin Mayor Nidal al-Obaidi on Wednesday declared the northern West Bank city a “disaster area” as the Israeli army continued its operations there.

"The Israeli army is continuing to destroy the infrastructure in Jenin and its camp," he told Anadolu.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank as Israel pressed ahead with its brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 685 people have since been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation followed a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice on July 19 that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio