Israeli forces will maintain their presence in the Jenin refugee camp following a large-scale raid launched last week, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Wednesday. The crackdown in the West Bank has now entered its second week.

Rubble is strewed across the residential streets of Jenin, in the West Bank, as Israel launches major operation for second week, a walkthrough video released on January 28 shows.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the army will maintain a presence in Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank after its ongoing military operation there.

The Israel Defense Forces insisted it was “not forcing the Palestinians to evacuate,” but said it had “allowed residents of the camp to evacuate … through an organized and secured point.”

Israeli troops will remain in the Palestinians' Jenin refugee camp once the large-scale raid they launched last week is complete, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday as a crackdown in the occupied West Bank extended into a second week.

The Israeli army has reportedly said that its 'Iron Wall' operation in Jenin which has left 17 Palestinians dead, may last several months.

At least 10 people have been killed in the raids, and more than 40 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Dozens have been arrested, Palestinian officials told the Wafa news agency.

Palestinians and Israelis have barely had time to process the end of a ruinous 15-month war before Israel launched a ‘major counter-terrorism’ operation in the West Bank. Bel Trew reports from Jenin where families are fleeing their homes as the bullets and bombs rain down,

The city of Jenin, a Palestinian militant stronghold in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has become a new front for Israel days after it reached a ceasefire deal with Hamas that suspended a 15-month-old war in Gaza.

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

Israel 's minister of defence announced on Wednesday that Israeli forces will remain in the Jenin refugee camp in occupied West Bank and in Syrian territory that it recently seized bordering the occupied Golan Heights.