Chaos ensued Thursday after Israeli security forces entered Jenin to arrest terrorists who had planned a large operation inside Israel. A gun fight left at least nine Palestinians dead and the Arab world up in arms. Israel is gearing up for retaliation from Gaza. 

The operation inside the Jenin refugee camp was meant to be surgical; it ended up as anything but. Condemnations of Israel are adding to the already intense pressure on a country in the crosshairs because of the rise of its right wing following the latest election.

If Secretary Blinken, who is due in Jerusalem and Ramallah early next week, was hoping to calm the situation, he now will have to face a major escalation of tensions. 

Israeli security officials are gearing up for major escalation from Gaza, as the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, some of whose terrorists were killed in the Thursday operation, is vowing retaliation. The Palestinian Authority’s president announced he would cut all security cooperation with Israel, and turn to the United Nations instead. 

How did we get here? 

“Palestinian news sites report: The Israeli operation in the Jenin refugee camp began with infiltrators arriving in this truckload of dairy products,” an Israeli journalist familiar with such operations, Avi Issacharoff, tweeted in Hebrew. He attached a photo of the vehicle, disguised as a dairy truck, which carried members of Israel’s special forces. Armed Palestinians discovered the ruse, and a lethal gunfight ensued. 

Mr. Issacharoff knows his stuff. He is the co-creator of the hit Netflix series “Fauda.” His Twitter followers noted how similar the Thursday event was to past episodes in the show, which launched its fourth season last week.

The new 12-episode installment is now top-rated around the world, including most notably in Arab countries. It is no. 1 in places like Lebanon, where hatred of Israel is deeply ingrained, and where some of the most riveting scenes in Season 4 occur.  

News accounts in international outlets on Thursday highlighted the number of Palestinian casualties while all but ignoring the goal of the operation. According to the Israeli Defense Force, it targeted three PIJ members who were planning a large terrorist event and were considered a “ticking bomb” — an immediate threat. 

Hamas, the PIJ, and new terrorist groupings that are financed and armed by Tehran control the Jenin area. The Palestinian Authority, which by treaty with Israel is charged with the prevention of terrorist activity there, has completely lost control. The American-backed PA forces have long been absent in the northern West Bank areas around Jenin and Nablus. 

In contrast to the news coverage of Thursday’s real event, the success of the fictional “Fauda” is due to its compelling portrayal of a complex reality. The word, Fauda, is translated from the Arabic as chaos. Screwups abound in the show, and good intentions often end up in misery, deaths, and regret.

Yet, the highly efficient team at the center of “Fauda” often manages to avert major disasters in Israel, albeit at high cost that includes unintentional civilian deaths. The highly strung team members suffer from the chaos as much as everyone else involved. 

The IDF on Thursday published a scene from the Jenin operation, as captured in a helmet cam of one of the Israeli fighters. It would look familiar to anyone who has watched “Fauda.” As in the show, chaos ensued once the Israeli team was discovered, as Palestinians opened fire at the force. 

“The security forces operated to surround the building in which the suspects were located,” the IDF reported in a Twitter thread. It noted that the three men in the house were “heavily involved in planning & executing multiple major terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians & soldiers.” Two of the terrorists were killed while fleeing the scene, and one surrendered.  

An unidentified IDF officer briefing Israeli reporters said that security forces are now “prepared for an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip.” The preparations for rocket attacks from Gaza were widely reported in the Israeli press. 

President Abbas’s announcement that the PA would suspend cooperation with Israel meant little on the ground, as the Palestinian Authority ceased such cooperation in Jenin, and has no control over Gaza. Yet, it riled Washington.

“We don’t think it is the right move right now,” an assistant secretary of state, Barbara Leaf, told reporters. “It is very important that both sides maintain security coordination and even deepen it.”

Announcing a trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah starting on Monday, Mr. Blinken said he will “underscore the urgent need for the parties to take steps to de-escalate tensions in order to put an end to the cycle of violence that has claimed too many innocent lives.” 

By the time he arrives, Mr. Blinken may well find a very different region than the one he envisioned when first planning his visit. To fully understand the new reality, he might do well to ignore press coverage, and even reports from his people on the ground — and catch up on the latest “Fauda” installment instead.