Throngs of people eagerly waited on Thursday for more than 100 Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israel in exchange for hostages held in Gaza.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank overnight and into Wednesday.

Israeli forces have killed two more Palestinians in the Jenin governorate in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of people killed in the area since the start of a major assault nearly two weeks ago to 19.

The sudden expansion of Israeli security operations in the West Bank has killed at least 10 people and follows the start of the delicate ceasefire process in Gaza, by which Israeli hostages are released in stages and will also see the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The Palestinian health ministry says an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday killed no fewer than 10 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, in an attack which the Israeli military said targeted armed militants.

The action came a day after President Donald Trump said he will lift sanctions on ultranationalist Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinian villages.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assault on Jenin would be “extensive and significant,” as the military erected new checkpoints across the West Bank.

An Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near the West Bank town of Qabatiya killed two people, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday, the fourth day of a large-scale Israeli operation in the nearby city of Jenin launched after the truce in Gaza.