More than 90 people are reported to have been killed and 1,200 arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank since 7 October
In their uncle’s house, next door to the ruins of their demolished home, two young boys from Aqbat Jaber refugee camp in the occupied West Bank were still asleep at midmorning.
“The Israelis are coming almost every day since 7 October,” said Mansour, 56, referring to the date the Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out of the besieged Gaza Strip, massacring 1,400 Israelis and sparking a new war in which more than 5,700 Palestinians in the coastal exclave have been killed.
The entire territory – home to 3 million Palestinians, and about 500,000 Israelis – feels like it is on the verge of an explosion. On Tuesday, Aqbat Jaber was uneasy; outside the entrance to Jericho, cars and trucks snaked back for about a kilometre in each direction in hours-long waits at checkpoints.
“I feel the pain of all mothers since Mahmoud was killed. I know the Israelis could come back any time and kill the rest of my children,” said Tahani, 44, as she tried to hold back tears.