A cool morning breeze became suffocating as black smoke filled the air and tear gas blanketed Jenin camp on Monday, July 3. Ten Israeli air strikes targeted the densely populated West Bank area, followed by a brigade of two thousand soldiers. Armored bulldozers and heavy military vehicles also pushed into the camp.

The Israeli military’s large-scale operation in the refugee camp filled residents with fear. Health crews’ mobility to rescue those stranded under fire were hindered by Israeli checkpoints at the camp’s entrance. Two days later on Wednesday morning, the Israeli army finally announced the withdrawal of its forces, ending a two-day raid that killed twelve Palestinians and left over a hundred others injured.

The raid has raised the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to 133 since the beginning of the year, in an increasing pattern of persistent attacks on the West Bank. For so long, the Jenin refugee camp has been a symbol of Palestinian resistance and social steadfastness. Israel’s portrayal of the invasion as “targeting terrorism” dismisses Palestine’s century-long struggle for freedom and obscures the broader context of resistance in Jenin and across the occupied West Bank. The use of “security” as a pretext has become a tool for the Israeli military to carry out violent acts against Palestinian civilians.