Israel’s Jenin assault displaces thousands as violence spirals on

Armoured incursion in response to rising bloodshed across Israel and West Bank looks political as much as tactical

In the darkness of the night, thousands of people stumbled in lines through the Jenin refugee camp, guiding each other through the twisted metal, churned-up concrete and spent ammunition littering the streets during a lull in Operation Home and Garden, Israel's biggest offensive in the West Bank for 20 years.

Videos of the streams of people - about 3,000-4,000, according to Palestinian officials - fleeing to safety on Monday night were widely shared by Palestinians on social media, where they were likened to images of the Nakba, the expulsion of the Arab population from the newly created state of Israel in 1948.