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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is “deeply concerned” over Israel’s all-out military assault on the occupied West Bank, calling for a swift end to the aggression in the Palestinian territory.

In a statement on Wednesday, Guterres called for “an immediate cessation” of Israel’s aggression in the occupied West Bank, including its assault on Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas governorates.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the Israeli army conducted its biggest operation – dubbed “Camps of Summer” – in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the occupying entity.

At least 17 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids and strikes in several towns, with many more sustained injuries. Eight of them were killed in Jenin, five in Tulkarm and four in Tubas, the Wafa news agency reported, citing medical sources.

Guterres strongly condemned the loss of lives, including of children, and urged Tel Aviv to protect civilians and ensure their safety.

“All those injured must have access to medical care, and humanitarian workers must be able to reach everyone in need,” the UN chief said. “These dangerous developments are fueling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority,” he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), shortened his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to the West Bank on Wednesday over Israel’s relentless aggression in northern parts of the territory.

In an interview with Israel’s Army Radio on Monday, Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also proactively confirmed that he plans to construct a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied East al-Quds, drawing condemnation from various countries and international organizations.

Elsewhere in his remarks on Wednesday, Guterres also expressed concern over “dangerous and provocative acts and statements” by Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, despite a longstanding ban on Jews praying at the site.

It was the first time for the Israeli minister to openly speak about building a synagogue inside the complex, strengthening the narrative that the Muslim holy site and Palestinian national symbol is under threat from the occupying regime.

The United Nations has warned that Israel is using “lethal war-like tactics” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, more than a week after the occupying entity launched a massive military aggression in the Palestinian territory, killing dozens of people.

At a press conference in New York on Tuesday, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Stéphane Dujarric, said that the Tel Aviv regime had resumed its aggression in Tulkarm and Jenin.

“The UN has recorded more than two dozen fatalities over the past week, including children,” he said, adding that multiple organizations mobilized by the OCHA were set to carry out an assessment in Jenin but were denied access by the Israeli authorities. 

“OCHA warns that access impediments are impacting the ability to provide meaningful humanitarian response,” Dujarric said, noting that the movement of ambulances and medical teams has been impeded and delayed since the onset of the current aggression.

In the early hours of August 28, the Israeli military conducted its biggest operation – dubbed “Camps of Summer” – in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the occupying entity.

The ongoing military aggression in the West Bank is currently concentrated in the city of Jenin, whose streets and infrastructure have been damaged by over 70 percent since the onset of the “Camps of Summer”, according to its municipality.

Dujarric also warned that Israeli forces continue to employ “lethal war-like tactics” in the West Bank, including airstrikes, with people being killed, injured and displaced.

While in Tulkarem on Saturday, OCHA teams verified that 120 Palestinians, including over 40 children, were displaced due to the destruction of their homes.

“At the time of the assessment, 13,000 people in Nour Shams refugee camp experienced water cut-offs, attributed to damages caused to the water network, and sewage overflow was observed. The teams also noted that the population was traumatized and in need of psychosocial support,” the OCHA report said.

Since the onset of the current aggression in the West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has increased to 34. This includes 19 in Jenin, 8 in Tulkarm, 4 in Tubas, and 3 in al-Khalil. The total death toll in the occupied West Bank has now reached 685 since October 7 last year.

The heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank come as the Israeli regime has since October been conducting a barbaric onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of more than 40,000 people, most of them women and children. 

The Israeli military has carried out airstrikes against several towns across the occupied West Bank, leaving at least 11 Palestinians dead and 15 others wounded, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says.  

Ahmed Jibril, spokesman of the PRCS said on Wednesday that two Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces launched a drone strike on the city of Jenin, adding that four others lost their lives in a drone assault on their vehicle in a nearby village.

Five others were also killed in an Israeli strike on the al-Fara refugee camp located south of the West Bank city of Tubas, he said.

Israeli tanks also besieged the camp, preventing medical teams from reaching the wounded.

Israel deployed hundreds of troops to the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas to carry out large-scale military operations in those areas.

The raids were met with strong resistance from Palestinian fighters, who destroyed Israeli bulldozers.

Meanwhile, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the operation is part of a wide-scale military offensive launched by the Israeli occupation authorities in several areas of the West Bank.

Israeli forces were carrying out a “major offensive in the city of Tulkarm,” besieging hospitals and preventing Palestinians from moving in and out of the city, according to Wafa.

The bloody attacks came two days after seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in al-Manshiya neighborhood at the Nour Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in northwestern West Bank.

A number of others were also wounded during the raid on Monday, which saw the Israeli aircraft releasing several missiles against the targeted residence.

Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories since the beginning of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. More than 640 Palestinians have been killed in the assaults and in attacks by Israeli settlers, including more than 100 children.

Israel launched the barbaric campaign of death, destruction and genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Israel has so far massacred 40,476 Palestinians, mostly women and children.