‘The Israelis have their boots on our neck’: Anger growing across West Bank as US fails to rein in Israel

As Ramadan begins with no Gaza ceasefire in sight, Kim Sengupta speaks to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank about their lack of trust in Western nations to help them as violence spikes and the death toll continues to spiral

A funeral for two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank (Reuters)

The operation had been meticulously planned. An Israeli army post came under fire by gunmen who then appeared to flee in panic without causing much damage. But then came the ambush, a hidden explosive device detonated, injuring seven pursuing soldiers.

Islamic Jihad put out video of the assault they had carried out on Friday at Silat ad-Dhahr, vowing more such “acts of liberation”. The footage was widely shared, gaining rapid and large circulation, particularly across the occupied West Bank.

Around 100 Palestinians have been killed every month in clashes with Israeli security forces and settlers since the Hamas attack on 7 October, and farmers have had their homes destroyed and been forced from their land in an attritional campaign. In this atmosphere of great rancour, the Islamic Jihad raid was seen as overdue payback.