-Analysis-
BEIRUT — The Palestinian Authority’s “security” operation at the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank did not go as the leadership had planned. Established in 1953, the camp is located in the outskirts of Jenin city in the northern West Bank. It houses about 25,000 people who are refugees or descendants of refugees uprooted from their homes elsewhere in Palestine or today’s Israel when the latter was established in the 1948 Mideast war.
Over years, the camp turned into a stronghold for armed Palestinian groups opposing Israel’s occupation, particularly Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. The Jenin Battalion is part of Saraya al-Quds.
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Palestinian Authority (PA) forces raiding the camp over the weekend encountered violent resistance from the militants present in the camp, which has been repeatedly raided by Israeli forces. The PA — an Fatah party-controlled government body that has partial administrative authority over parts of the occupied West Bank — was also criticized by other Palestinian groups, which view the PA as acting on behalf of Israel.
In the first hours of its campaign, the PA forces killed Rabhi Shalabi, 19, and took responsibility for his killing. They also killed Yazid Ja’aysah, commander of the Jenin Battalion affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group. Ja’aysah was one of the key militants in Jenin and was wanted by the Israeli military.
Commenting on the killing of Shalabi, PA spokesperson Brigadier General Anwar Rajab said they were handling “the repercussions of the incident in a way consistent with the law, and ensuring justice and respect for rights.”
“After following up and reviewing all the details, circumstances and conditions of the incident, the National Authority announces that it bears full responsibility,” Rajab said in a statement on Dec. 14, according to the Palestine News and Information Agency WAFA. He said the PA security services were working to end what he called “the state of chaos and security chaos” in Jenin, and that they aim to “thwart any attempts that serve the occupation’s goals.” He also said they aim at preventing “the Gaza scenario.”
He said the PA managed to foil a “catastrophe” in Jenin, when they seized an explosive-laden vehicle prepared by “outlaws.”
Israel’s raids
The spokesman for the Jenin Battalion, meanwhile, said the PA operation aims at disarming the resistance groups, vowing that they won’t allow this to happen. “What is wanted is the head of the resistance, and despite that, we are with the rule of law and its application. But where is the law in the raids of the occupation army in the West Bank?”
The spokesman, who appeared armed and masked, said the battalion has confronted the Israeli settlers actors in the occupied West Bank, not the Palestinian people. “Elements of the [Palestinian] security services walk on our explosive devices, and we refuse to detonate them in order to preserve their lives,” he said.
The Islamic Jihad accused the PA of launching a crackdown on resistance fighters and those wanted by Israel which has for many years launched raids on the camp. In a statement, it urged all Palestinian factions and forces to take a decisive stance against what the PA apparatuses are doing throughout the West Bank, especially in Jenin, and to put serious pressure on the PA to stop “these serious violations that threaten our national fabric and societal stability.”
Cooperation with Israel
Hamas announced its full solidarity with the Islamic Jihad and urged the PA leaders to “immediately and completely stop their shameful attacks.”
Hamas senior official Mahmoud Mardawi slammed the PA operation in Jenin as an “attempt to end the resistance.” In a statement Monday, he urged the PA to immediately stop its “unpatriotic behavior that serves the occupation.”
Omar Assaf of the Palestinian National Democratic Assembly, said that the PA campaign in Jenin is not to maintain security in the camps which he said are being raided by the Israeli forces on a daily basis. The Israeli settlers also rampage through the West Bank, and the PA security forces do nothing, he said, adding “the occupation does not need excuses. After 30 years of betting on [peaceful] solutions with [Israel], settlement expanded and holy sites were desecrated.”
The aggression on Jenin came at a time when Palestinians are in dire need of unity.
Assaf said the PA didn’t take any action as the settlers’ number ballooned to about 1 million, and of them have their own militias. “What is happening today is a continuation of the same role that the PA has played,” he said, adding that the PA “pursues and detains resistance fighters, and reports to the Zionist security authority.”
By launching the Jenin operation, Assaf said that the PA aims to present its credentials and strengthen its position with Israel and the United States, in an attempt to have a role in post-war Gaza. “The aggression on Jenin came at a time when we are in dire need of unity based on commitment to resistance as an approach and choice to confront the crimes of the occupation and its liquidation projects,” he said, referring to statements by Israeli officials that they aim to annex more than a third of the West Bank and end the role of the PA.
A pivotal moment
American news website Axios reported that the Jenin operation was a “pivotal moment” for the PA, meant to send “a message to the incoming Trump administration that the Palestinian Authority is a reliable partner and to try to prevent what happened in Syria from happening in the West Bank.”
According to Axios, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to fire some of his security chiefs if they didn’t obey his order. Citing unnamed Palestinian and U.S. officials, Axios reported that Abbas’ aides briefed the Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s advisers in advance of the operation.
The Biden administration reportedly asked Israel to approve U.S. military assistance to the PA to launch the operation.
Axios quoted a Palestinian official as saying that U.S. security coordinator Gen. Mike Fenzel met with the Palestinian security chiefs ahead of the operation to go over their planning. It said that the Biden administration asked Israel to approve U.S. military assistance to the PA to launch the operation. The U.S. asked Israel to approve the urgent delivery of ammunition, helmets, bulletproof vests, radios, night vision equipment, explosive disposal suits and armored cars, according to the report.
The Palestinian Authority insisted that the operation aims at maintaining security, and thwarting any Israeli plans. “We must thwart the opportunity for the occupation that wants to perpetuate and prolong the status quo,” said Palestinian Legislative Council Chairman Rawhi Fattuh.
