Settler attacks and arrests of Hamas supporters create climate of fear and distrust in ruling Fatah party

Shuffling around his family home in the hills around Ramallah, Khalil was nervous after his release from prison the day before. His mother was also terrified that he would be rearrested.

Khalil, a shy 21-year-old whose name has been changed, was arrested in a pre-dawn raid last October for his allegiance to Hamas. But when Israeli forces smashed through the door of his family home, they didn’t tell him why they were detaining him. He was imprisoned for six months without charge, in conditions he described as “unbelievable”.

“The Israelis are trying to restrain and terrorise us using these methods,” he said. “People are afraid. There is no freedom of speech … I’m scared to travel to any of the cities in the West Bank in case I get detained. Still, it feels like they could raid my house at any minute.”