Netanyahu’s attack on Jenin shows weakness. The Palestinians are weak too – and therein lies the danger

Residents of the Jenin refugee camp flee their homes as the IDF presses ahead with its operation in the West Bank today. Photograph: Majdi Mohammed/AP

The endlessly simmering conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, exploding into unbridled warfare this week in the embattled West Bank city of Jenin, threatens a broader, more far-reaching catastrophe.

How much closer now is a third intifada or, worse still, a wider Middle Eastern war drawing in Israel’s sworn enemies, Hezbollah and Iran? Paradoxically, it is both sides’ chronic weakness that has prevented this larger calamity so far.