The Israeli army launched a military offensive in two Palestinian areas in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, in the latest escalation in the occupied territory, Anadolu reported.

Israeli forces pushed into the town of Tammun and the Far’a refugee camp in Tubas city amid military reinforcements on Wednesday.

Sounds of gunfire were heard as Israeli military bulldozers destroyed infrastructure and roads in the area.

The Israeli push comes amid growing concerns that Tel Aviv has set in motion the process of occupying more Palestinian territory.

Israel recently announced a plan to build 22 settlements in addition to legalising internationally prohibited outposts. Experts say the move is aimed at annexing the Palestinian territory.

Several houses were raided during the raid.

Kamal Bani Odeh, the local director of the Palestinian Prisoner Society in Tubas, said nearly 10 people, including freed prisoners, were detained by the Israeli forces in Tammun and two others in the Far’a refugee camp.

Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported that dozens of settlers stormed the main entrance in the village of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, under the protection of the Israeli forces, and performed Talmudic rituals, obstructing movement to and from the village, especially schools.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 973 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 wounded in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.