This is the most deadly Israeli raid into Jenin refugee camp in nearly two decades.
Nine Palestinians were killed when troops reportedly encircled buildings amid a storm of gunfire, grenades and tear gas in the packed urban camp.
Palestinian officials say two of the dead were civilians, including a 61-year-old woman, while militant groups claim the other seven as members.
The Israeli military says its troops went in to arrest Islamic Jihad militants planning “major attacks”.
The history matters here. I have been to Jenin repeatedly over the last year as Israel’s military raids have mounted, sparking increasingly fierce gunfights with a new generation of armed Palestinians.
Everyone you speak to roots their experiences in comparisons to April 2002, at the height of the second intifada or Palestinian uprising.
Back then, Israel launched a full-scale incursion – known as the Battle of Jenin – in which at least 52 Palestinian militants and civilians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed. It had followed a campaign of Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel, many of which involved perpetrators from the city.
- Nine Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in Jenin
Much of Jenin camp was flattened in 2002. The scale of destruction, and Palestinians’ stories of trying to repel the forces, are part of the collective memory there. It forms a backdrop to much that has happened since.
Last spring, Israel launched operation “Break the Wave” amid a surge in Palestinian gun and knife attacks targeting Israelis – the deadliest in years.
Some were carried out by Palestinian citizens of Israel who were supporters of the so-called Islamic State group. But several were Palestinian gunmen from Jenin, including Ra’ad Hazem who shot dead three Israelis in a bar in Tel Aviv and was later killed by security forces.
It put Jenin back in focus. Israeli search, arrest and home demolition raids in the city and nearby Nablus became near nightly.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was operating to prevent further attacks, and that it fired at Palestinian gunmen who targeted its troops.
But the death toll across the West Bank was much broader than this. While armed militants accounted for a significant proportion of the more than 150 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank last year, many of those shot dead were not carrying guns; sometimes they were in groups throwing stones or petrol bombs towards jeeps, sometimes they were passers by or other civilians.
