Who is Israel targeting in its attacks on the West Bank?

The Israeli army killed three Palestinian military commanders – including one from Hamas’s Qassam Brigades and two from Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – and a mother and her child during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.

Several army convoys and bulldozers also stormed Tulkarem refugee camp, where the five were killed, to destroy homes, markets and entire neighbourhoods during the attack.

Like all of the West Bank, Tulkarem has been subjected to Israeli army raids and settler attacks that intensified following the return of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm of a far-right government at the end of 2022. The devastation brought on by these raids intensified further after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Israel claims that its nearly daily raids are necessary to capture Hamas cells and ensure Israeli security. But critics say that raids are exacerbating the root causes that fuel armed resistance – in particular, Israel’s decades-long occupation – declared last week as unlawful by the International Court of Justice.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel has killed 203 people in the West Bank between January and June 6 this year. That’s 75 more people killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers compared to the same period last year.

Activists and experts believe that Israel is playing up the threat of what it calls “terrorism” to justify the increasing violence, which leads to mass displacement and the expansion of illegal settlements.

Here is all you need to know about the uptick in violence as a result of operations in the West Bank.

Israel conducts military raids into the occupied West Bank on a near-daily basis, predating the current war on Gaza. Israel says the raids are in the name of upholding security, but locals say that they serve little purpose except to remind them of the realities of living under occupation.

Towns such as Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Nur Shams refugee camp are frequently targeted, and firefights with Palestinian armed men are frequent.