Palestinian Authority auditions for governing role in Gaza with assault on Jenin ...Middle East

As Palestinians in Gaza suffer through a 16th month of Israeli bombardment, their compatriots in the northern West Bank have come under sustained assault from Palestinian security forces.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, launched operation “Protect the Homeland” in early December with a focus on the sprawling refugee camp in the heart of Jenin, a city long associated with militant resistance.

The PA claims the continuing operations, the largest in its 30-year history, are targeting “outlaws” and seek to restore order. But residents of the camp accuse their quasi-government of brutal repression, and claim they are serving Israel’s interests.

At least 14 Palestinians have been killed in PA operations, according to the UN, including three children, a female journalist, and six members of the security forces. The PA admits killing only one civilian, but families of other victims, including journalist Shatha al-Sabbagh, say the security forces are responsible.

More than 2,000 families from the camp have been displaced since operations began, with the remaining residents enduring “dire conditions” with water and electricity supplies cut off, the UN further reported. PA forces have established checkpoints around the camp controlling movement in and and out.

The Palestinian security operations follow a years-long campaign of Israeli raids targeting militant groups in Jenin, which have escalated during the war in Gaza along with operations across the West Bank. Israeli assaults in Jenin have killed dozens of militants and civilians, with bulldozers tearing up roads and water pipelines.

Ahmed Tobasi, artistic director of the Freedom Theatre that is located in the camp, said essential services have been cut off again by the PA operations, with little water and power for the past month.

“The camp is under siege,” he told The i Paper. “People get killed just walking in the street. Palestinian soldiers…are more crazy and stupid than the Israelis. They set fire to houses. Their snipers shoot all the time. Each time we try to fix the electricity, they shoot (power sources) on purpose.”

Another camp resident, Raed Khatib*, describes conditions as “catastrophic.”

“Some of our neighbours have been subjected to gunfire. Houses have been burnt, and the situation keeps getting worse because there isn’t a safe place to hide with your family,” he said. “On top of that, there’s the complete blockade, which causes a lot of problems.”

“This operation is ultimately serving the Israeli occupation,” Khatib added. “The goal is disarming the resistance fighters, and the only beneficiary is the occupation.

The PA has been dogged by domestic criticism over its relationship with Israel.

The body was established as an interim government by the US-backed Oslo Accords of 1993 that were to provide a path to Palestinian statehood. But as the peace process stalled and prospects of independence faded, the PA was left to administer civilian affairs in roughly 40 per cent of the West Bank designated by the Accords as Area A or B.

Israel has remained in control of the remainder that was designated Area C, where Israeli settlements – illegal under international law – have rapidly proliferated.

Under the terms of Oslo, the US-trained PA forces maintain security coordination with the Israeli military, working together against militant groups in the West Bank, although Israel has frequently criticised the body for failing to do enough to tackle such threats.

This collaboration is often cited in polls showing the PA’s unpopularity, with the most recent survey by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showing just 18 per cent public support for Fatah – the party that controls the PA – in the West Bank, with rivals Hamas on 37 per cent.

The body is also criticised for its lack of a democratic mandate, with President Mahmoud Abbas, 89, having failed to call elections since his original four-year term expired in 2009, and increasing authoritarianism, recently shutting down Al Jazeera offices in the West Bank – after Israel banned the Qatari network – and arresting journalists who have been critical of its operations in Jenin.

The PA has responded to criticism by claiming to be acting to prevent militant groups from launching attacks on Israeli targets that could trigger even more destructive Israeli operations in the West Bank.

Israel’s far right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said parts of the territory should be made to “look like Jabalia” – a devastated area in Gaza – after an attack by Palestinian militants killed three Israelis last week.

Mahmoud Hawashin, secretary general of Fatah in Jenin told The i Paper that the operations “seek to create a state of calm and prevent paramilitary actions against the Israeli army forces to avoid … destruction similar to what is happening in Gaza.”

The PA also has an eye on a role in postwar Gaza, he acknowledged. “The goal is also to restore confidence in the Palestinian Authority as a capable force for managing the West Bank and Gaza.”

The US has offered support for a Palestinian-led government in the devastated enclave, with the PA the obvious candidate. But Israeli leaders including Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, oppose such a move, accusing the PA of being too close to militant groups.

Hawashin admitted challenges with the operations in Jenin as “Palestinian security forces are facing difficulties in entering the camp and gaining full control.”

He said PA forces had “mistakenly” killed one civilian during operations in Jenin, and the other deaths would be investigated.

The PA claims that militant groups have installed dozens of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) around the refugee camp.

PA Spokesperson Anwar Rajab described results to date as “satisfactory,” claiming last week that security forces had made 247 arrests during operations to date, as well as confiscating illicit weapons and finance.

“The results are satisfactory for us, and we will continue our operation in the Jenin camp until all the perpetrators are arrested and the situation inside the camp changes,” he said.

The dominant militant force in the camp and city is al-Qatiba – the Jenin Brigades – an umbrella group that includes elements of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

The network has claimed a series of deadly attacks on Israeli settlers and military targets, using weapons procured through smuggling routes that Israel and the PA have struggled to disrupt.

The Brigades issued a statement and a warning last week denouncing PA operations.

“We call on every official in the country to take responsibility and put an end to the injustice happening in the camp,” a spokesperson said. “Our patience is running out, do not force us to reach the point of no return, which will have grave consequences.”

The network claims popular legitimacy in the camp, a historic site of resistance operations from battles with British mandate forces before the establishment of Israel in 1948, to the intifadas – uprisings – against Israeli occupation in the 80s and early 2000s, and a resurgence of militant groups in recent years following the failures of the peace process.

Khatib suggested the militants do have popular support. “People in the camp mostly support the resistance,” he said. “They know the PA does not protect them, so they stand with the resistance and support them in every possible way to provide them with protection and confront the occupation.”

“The PA don’t want any form of resistance, they just want a peaceful solution. And this peaceful solution, through negotiations, is something the people in the camp find unviable because they have tried it before.”

The camp has historically been a no-go area for Palestinian security forces, with militant groups exercising broad autonomy, says a Palestinian security analyst who asked for their name not to be published due to sensitivities.

But the damage inflicted upon the brigades by Israeli raids encouraged the PA to believe the operations could succeed, they said.

“In recent months, there was a notable decline in the power of the resistance in Jenin camp,” the analyst said. “In this situation there was an opportunity for the PA to make this campaign.”

The PA was further encouraged by the hope that the damage inflicted upon Jenin in Israeli raids, and the threat of further escalation, could weaken public support for the militants, they added, as well as the economic hardship created by many Jenin residents losing their jobs inside Israel after Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.

But the brigades remain strong enough to limit PA progress inside the camp, with leaders unwilling to launch attacks that would risk heavy casualties, the analyst said, noting that previous clashes have been resolved through negotiation. “But there is no channel for dialogue between the sides. This is the problem.”

Daoud Kuttab, a veteran Palestinian political journalist and author of the new book State of Palestine NOW, said the PA is seeking to strike a balance between cracking down on the militants and restoring control, without losing further public legitimacy by killing many Palestinians.

“They are walking between raindrops to stay away from killing these guys but not allowing them to expand,” he said.

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The governing body is also motivated by the possibility of a governing role in postwar Gaza, the journalist believes.

“The PA is trying to present to the Israelis and to the Americans that if they have to, they can take action against their own people to apply law and order,” he said. “The timing seems to be connected to the end of the war in Gaza, and the mystery about what will happen next. The PA wants to show that they are the ones that can control Gaza.”

But the PA must also address a legitimacy deficit with its own public as a result of the failures of the peace process, the lack of elections, and domestic repression, Kuttab added. He suggests the best they can offer at this point is some respite from escalating violence, and steadfastness in the face of Israeli threats to annex the West Bank, rather than reviving hopes of independence.

“I don’t think the PA has a major plan for liberation,” he said. “They are basically saying our job right now is to stay put, to restore life and normalcy, and that’s our best policy for the time being.”

*Name changed to protect identity

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