RAMALLAH, Palestine 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to Ramallah on Wednesday following an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Abbas decided to cut short his current trip to the kingdom “due to Israel’s escalating aggression in the northern West Bank.”

The Palestinian leader started an official visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday and held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army launched a major military operation in the northern West Bank early Wednesday, the largest in two decades.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the army operation includes the “temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents" from areas in the northern West Bank.

At least nine Palestinians have been killed since the start of the operation, according to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,500, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 660 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

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

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar