Palestinians in West Bank shocked after devastating Israeli attacks

Palestinian residents of the Israeli-occupied West Bank expressed shock and despair at the outcome of an Israeli attack on their refugee camp: bullet-riddled walls, destroyed homes and piles of concrete blocks.

"We are another Gaza, especially in the refugee camps," said Nayef Alaajmeh, a resident of the Nur Shams camp in the city of Tulkarem, as he surveyed the damage following a devastating Israeli raid on the camp that ended late on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces launched a so-called "counter-terrorism" operation in several occupied West Bank cities and refugee camps, including Nur Shams.

At least 19 Palestinians have been killed so far in the incursion, according to the Israeli military and the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah.

The Israeli military initially sent bulldozers to tear up tarmac streets, sending clouds of dust over the targeted areas.

AFP footage showed camp residents walking cautiously through streets littered with burnt tyres and other debris.

Municipality workers and residents were already at work trying to salvage what they could.

Many residents compared the devastation to that in Gaza, where nearly 11 months of war have left much of the Palestinian territory destroyed.

"Today, we are just like Gaza, war or no war... (but) we are steadfast and the people of Gaza are also steadfast," said Nabil Abu Shala, another resident of Nur Shams camp.

Israel 'destroyed infrastructure, roads'

The Israeli military is officially forbidden from entering occupied West Bank cities and refugee camps, which are autonomous zones under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Violence in the occupied West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 after Israel initiated a war against the besieged Palestinian enclave following the Hamas attack.

"The occupation forces have destroyed the infrastructure and vandalised the roads, property and cars," Abu Mohammed told AFP.

"They even demolished and vandalised the mosque."

In the Al-Faraa refugee camp in the nearby city of Tubas, Mohammed Mansur, a member of the central committee of the communist People's Party, attended a funeral of four Palestinians killed on Wednesday during the Israeli raid.

"Here too they have carried out many massacres and bombings to put pressure on the resistance," Mansur said. "They want the people to turn against the resistance, but that will not happen," he said, as bodies of those killed, wrapped in Palestinian flags, were laid to rest.

In the 10 months preceding October 7, the United Nations recorded 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank, which at the time was the highest toll during a period of that length since it began compiling such data in 2005.

Since October 7, around 640 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, according to the UN.

Three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, as well as half a million Israelis in settlements considered illegal under international law.