West Bank raid leaves destruction and determination in its wake

Down another shattered street, paved with broken glass and burned pieces of rubble, I hear a voice at the window above me. It turns out to be Umm Yazan.

She says the army laid wires from her home to blow up two of the houses opposite – families she has known for decades.

“I have 10-year-old triplets, and they trapped us in a room,” she told me. “Then they started the explosions – five explosions in total. Imagine the walls shaking and your young children clinging to you. It feels like we’re in Gaza.”

Israel says this is a counter-terrorist operation, to dismantle Palestinian armed groups it says are funded and armed by Iran.

But Umm Yazan replies that it is the army’s responsibility to target fighters, and not involve families like hers.

“Are there fighters in my house? I have young children, my husband has an Israeli work permit. My house is a safe house.”

You hear comparisons with Gaza a lot here now.

The grinding conflict between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in the West Bank is still very different to the Gaza war, but that war has changed attitudes and tactics here – on both sides.

It has changed how Israel views the threat from armed groups here – and, some say, it is also changing its response on the ground.