The Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine has formed a new brigade to confront Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

The new battalion, formed under the name of Tulkarm, will be based in a Palestinian refugee camp in its namesake city, according to a Wednesday report by Al-Alam news network.

The Tulkarm Brigade will be an extension of Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades which operates across the occupied West Bank, a spokesman of the battalion said, adding that the battalion’s main mission will be to defend the Tulkarm Camp against the Israeli aggression.

“The Tulkarm battalion has been formed to respond to the crimes of the Zionists in the Tulkarm Camp ... We tell the occupiers that we are ready to respond to their aggression,” said the unidentified spokesman.

Tulkarm is located to the northwest of the occupied West Bank and its refugee camp has seen a ramp-up in raids by Israeli military forces since last year.

That comes as part of a larger pattern of attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on Palestinians across the occupied West Bank over the past 16 months.

A main reason for the flare-up in violence is Israel’s continued construction of settlements in the West Bank, an area which it illegally captured and occupied after the 1967 war with the Arabs.

Violence has also worsened in the Palestinian territories in recent months as the far-right Israeli cabinet continues to implement provocative measures at al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Muslim city, mainly by allowing extremists to storm the compound. 

The death toll of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza has surpassed 200 this year. Most of these deaths occurred in the West Bank. This makes 2023 the most lethal year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005, when the United Nations started to record fatalities.

The previous record was in 2022, when 150 Palestinians were killed, including 33 minors, according to the United Nations.