Israel has portrayed its strikes on the Jenin refugee camp – the biggest military operation in the occupied West Bank for two decades – as a limited intervention lasting just a few days. This is scant comfort for the thousands fleeing violence, including families making their escape as homes and infrastructure were destroyed. The Palestinian health ministry said on Tuesday that at least 11 people had been killed, and 100 injured.
Whenever the troops leave, the idea of a short-lived offensive is also misleading.The intent is a show of force in retaliation for renewed attacks on settlers, and unexpectedly strong resistance to a previous raid. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, said it was an attack on a “safe haven for terrorists” and “people who would annihilate our country”. But this is only the latest and most intense of multiple raids on Jenin, one of which killed the renowned journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last year. And it will only fuel the surge of violence. On Tuesday a Palestinian resident of the West Bank injured at least nine people in Tel Aviv in a truck and knife attack; he was shot dead.
