Support for Hamas grows in occupied West Bank _ BBC News

in the occupied West Bank , where violence has escalated since the war began .

Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in the city of Jenin , according to the Palestinian Health Ministry .

Control of the West Bank , apart from east Jerusalem , was handed to the Palestinian Authority in 1994 to administer fully in some areas or jointly with Israel in others .

But about 60% of the land in the West Bank is still run by Israel alone .

Lucy Williamson has sent this report from the West Bank .

Since the war in Gaza began , Israel's raids in the West Bank have become more frequent and more forceful .

The city of Jenin , now a weekly battleground , the leaders of Hamas , seen as heroes of resistance by many teenagers .

The road outside the main hospital littered with their own attempts at confrontation .

The Israeli army operation is still ongoing .

Here in Jenin , we've heard bursts of small arms fire from the city over here and some manoeuvring of vehicles up at the hospital near the entrance to the camp .

Apart from that and a few groups of young men here on the street , it's deserted .

Seven people died during the military operation today Israel says its raids target members of armed groups , many with Israeli blood on their hands .

But Jenin's hospital director told us the dead here included a chronically ill 13 year old child who was blocked from reaching the hospital in time , the persistence of invasion and to Jenin and killing the young people .

This will make the people inside Jenin more angry and more angry , because every day we lost one of our friends , one of our peoples .

This will not bring the peace for Israelis .

This will bring more resistance and more resistance .

A youth leader with the West Bank's ruling party , Fatah , told me that support for Hamas among young people was at an all time high and that the Hamas attacks on the seventh of October were a turning point for pins as well as for Israelis .

Many others here agree Palestinian youth had priorities and wish lists about owning a house or getting a degree .

But after the seventh of October , I think these priorities have totally changed .

There are rising voices for full liberation of the homeland through resistance , whether that resistance is peaceful or armed .

Night after night , Israel's raids in the West bank reinforced the message many here read in the Hamas attacks that Cooper operation does not lessen occupation .

Israel is fighting to eradicate Hamas in Gaza .

Its growing influence here may be harder to destroy .

LUCY Williamson BBC News Janine .