Hamas: Israel escalation in West Bank fuels the resistance

Senior Hamas official, Abdel Hakim Hanini, said the Israeli occupation’s campaigns of arrests, raids on cities and villages, and the destruction of homes and property in the occupied West Bank is fueling the deeply rooted resistance.

In a statement issued yesterday, Hanini said the Israeli occupation is committing these crimes and escalating their frequency in desperate attempts to eliminate the resistance and uproot it.

Hanini, a former prisoner who was freed in 2011, affirmed that “the West Bank will not be broken and will maintain its covenant with Gaza, Jerusalem, the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and with the masses of our people who are eager to curb the occupation.”

He called on the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem to respond with whatever capabilities they have and to continue mobilising and remaining vigilant in the face of settlers’ plans and attacks.

READ: West Bank Palestinians ethnically cleansed by Israeli settlers amid genocide in Gaza

Since 7 October, 201 Palestinians, including 52 children, have been killed by Israeli occupation forces; and an additional eight, including one child, have been killed by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israeli occupation forces have also injured 2,814 Palestinians, including at least 355 children. An additional 74 Palestinians have been injured by illegal settlers.

Since 7 October, at least 143 Palestinian households comprising 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from 15 herding/Bedouin communities, according to UN OCHA.