Israeli troops withdraw in West Bank, Gaza rockets fired

Israeli forces withdrew from the Palestinian city of Jenin on Tuesday, following one of their biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank for years.

Israeli jets hit an underground weapons manufacturing facility in response, the military said, but it was not immediately clear whether there would be any further escalation.

Twelve Palestinians, at least five of them fighters, and one Israeli soldier had been killed.

The operation, which the army said was aimed at destroying militant infrastructure and weapons in the Jenin refugee camp, was launched with a drone strike on Monday, and over 1,000 troops were deployed.

After they left, residents who had vacated the camp during the fighting began returning to its dark streets. 

The densely populated refugee camp, where some 14,000 people live in less than half a square kilometre, has been one of the focal points of a wave of violence that has swept the West Bank for more than a year, drawing growing international alarm.

A few hours after the forces began withdrawing, militants in the Gaza Strip fired five rockets toward Israel, the military said. The rockets were intercepted and there were no immediate reports of casualties.

There was further escalation on Tuesday with a car-ramming and stabbing attack claimed by the Hamas militant group in Israel's business hub Tel Aviv, in which eight people were hurt.

As Israeli troops were leaving Jenin, explosions could still be heard in the northern West Bank city amid reports of a gunbattle near a Jenin hospital. Reuters could not immediately verify that report.

"At this moment we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive activity in Jenin is not a one-time operation," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a checkpoint near the city.