I began to write this column last week in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. I started it several times, both on the page and in my head, as I travelled between occupied territories. In every location I started the column again, then failed to capture what is unfolding and has been for years. So maybe I will just start at what seems like the beginning, with the killing of Israeli civilians on 7 October – a year ago today.

I say “seems”, because that is not really the beginning, but just another beginning as far as Palestinians are concerned. Another date after which conditions worsened and occupation and illegal settlements became more brutal. Because as the world’s attention has rightly been on Gaza – then Lebanon, then, last week, the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel – Israeli authorities and settlers have, under cover of war, intensified their assault on Palestinians with renewed licence and relish. Again, that summation seems inadequate, a poor attempt at describing a reality that is nothing short of a living nightmare. The violation of Palestinians is so colossal in scale that I began to speak to the readers of this column in my head. I kept saying: I wish you could see.

I wish you could see parts of the old city of Hebron, its historic streets and markets emptied, its buildings crumbling, its paths blocked to Palestinians since before 7 October. Palestinians are not allowed to walk on those roads, but settlers can, with machine guns casually hoisted over their shoulders. Israeli soldiers protect them on the ground, at checkpoints and from turrets. They man a giant and expanding settlement that bears down on the populace below, over a community that........

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