Israel¡¯s military on Wednesday launched a new operation against Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where a local governor said that Israeli forces had raided several towns.

The Israeli military, police and internal security service said in a joint statement that they had begun ¡°a broad counter-terrorism operation¡± in the north of the Palestinian territory after they received intelligence about ¡°attempts to establish terrorist strongholds.¡±

The military said the operation began with air strikes to isolate the area, which were followed by ¡°searches¡± on the ground, during which suspects were questioned and funds were confiscated.