The Palestinian Authority has been trying to reassert its authority in the Arab cities in Judea and Samaria (a/k/a the West Bank), where its authority has long been challenged by members of the terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The IDF has warned the PA that if it cannot subdue both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, and especially in the terror hotspot of Jenin, then the IDF will enter and do the job instead. Mahmoud Abbas does not oppose terrorism in principle; he praised the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. But he does not brook Arab rivals, and Hamas and PIJ are those rivals. Abbas also wants to prevent a large-scale Israeli incursion in the West Bank to crush Hamas and PIJ, which would demonstrate the PA’s weakness. He has ordered his security forces to go on the offensive against both terror groups. He wants to prove to the IDF that he can handle security without them, and show both the Israelis and the Western powers that the PA should be given the task of ruling over Gaza once Hamas is completely crushed. More on the PA’s attempt to assert its authority in Jenin can be found here: “PA security forces kill Islamic Jihad commander, sparking clashes in Jenin,” Times of Israel, December 14, 2024:
Palestinian Authority security forces killed a commander of the Islamic Jihad terror group’s Jenin Brigade early Saturday morning, sparking clashes in the West Bank city, Palestinian media reported.
Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the city and PA forces set up checkpoints around the city, that has been a hotebed for terror groups in recent years.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander was named in the reports as Yazid Jaysa, who is said to have been wanted by both the PA and Israel. There was no immediate confirmation from Islamic Jihad.
The operation was part of a larger PA crack down against terror groups in Jenin, which the PA says is to restore security and stability to the area and comes as Ramallah appears to be trying to signal that it could play a significant role in managing a post-war Gaza Strip.
Brigadier General Anwar Rajab of the PA’s security forces confirmed the reports, and told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that his forces “thwarted a disaster in Jenin camp, by containing a booby-trapped vehicle prepared by outlaws.”
Rajab said that the vehicle “was supposed to be detonated among citizens and security personnel, as part of a cowardly criminal act that reflects an ISIS approach alien to our Palestinian values and morals and contradicts the course of our national struggle.”
Rajab added that a previous car bomb had detonated in recent days injuring a number of civilians and members of the security services.
Hamas condemned the PA for the Jenin operation and its allied group Islamic Jihad called for a day of protests.
On Monday, during another PA operation in Jenin, Palestinian security forces killed a 19-year-old Palestinian man named Rahbi Shalabi. The PA initially blamed his death on “lawbreakers,” but said on Thursday that after an investigation into his death, the PA “bears full responsibility” for the incident.
Last week, armed men seized two official PA vehicles and paraded through the Jenin refugee camp waving flags of the Islamic Jihad group, which is allied with Hamas. There were then gunfights in the area….
This was a direct challenge by PIJ operatives to the authority of the PA.
The PA’s killing of the PIJ leader in Jenin represents a new stage in the PA’s campaign to assert itself. It has not killed a PIJ or Hamas commander before, and this attack is likely to lead to a ferocious response by both the PIJ and Hamas, and an increase in murderous attacks on the PA security forces, not limited to Jenin. The IDF already has a lot to deal with simultaneously, in Gaza, in southern Lebanon, in Syria, and it may well want to let the PA, unhindered, do what it can to weaken Hamas and PIJ in the West Bank, and endure the casualties as well. Abbas, determined to show the world that his forces are capable of suppressing challenges to the Palestinian Authority, will have his security forces pull out all the stops to suppress their rivals, all in order that when Hamas is finally crushed in Gaza, Israel will be willing to put him and his cronies in control of the Strip.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
While Israel may want it, this is one more of those Alien vs Predator moves. I’m all for the PA fighting both PIJ and Hamas down to the last Palestinian
Essentially, popcorn time 🍿
Skeptiker says
Hallelujah. Terroristen meucheln Terroristen.
Ich mach’s mir bequem auf meinem Sessel bei Chips und Nüssen.