On December 28, young journalism student Shatha Sabbagh left her home in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, with her mother and her sister’s two young children. A moment later, she was shot in the head and killed by a sniper’s bullet. She was only 21 years old.
Shatha was killed in the same refugee camp where veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was assassinated by the Israeli regime in 2022. Yet Shatha was not killed by an Israeli regime soldier. According to his family, the bullet that cost him his life was fired by the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF).
Last month, the PASF besieged the Jenin refugee camp, in a coordinated effort with the Israelis, as part of its efforts to quell armed resistance in the northern West Bank.
While the Palestinian Authority (PA) has managed to subdue resistance to the Israeli occupation in many other urban centers through threats and oppression, there remain pockets in the north where armed resistance groups are still active. present. The city of Jenin, and in particular its refugee camp, where Shireen and Shatha were killed, constitutes one of these enclaves. This is why the camp, which houses more than 15,000 people, has become a symbol of resistance and firmness and a real thorn in the side of the PASF.
Indeed, the PA’s very existence depends on eradicating this resistance to Israeli rule in all areas under its supposed control. As such, it continually coordinates its actions with the Israeli military and uses oppressive tactics that are often indistinguishable from their own. In fact, one could easily confuse the PASF with the Israeli army, if it weren’t for their different uniforms.
And as the Israelis continue their genocide in Gaza, the PASF has embarked on its own large-scale act of aggression against Jenin. They besieged the refugee camp relentlessly, cutting off water, electricity and barring the entry of most basic necessities. The PASF also posted snipers on rooftops and placed checkpoints in the streets to limit the movement of resistance fighters.
There were also reports of beatings, arrests and torture. A team from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society testified that they were detained, beaten and interrogated for two and a half days while trying to deliver medicine to besieged families.
In a video circulating on Palestinian social media, two men are forced to stand on one leg and continually recite “President Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is God.” In another video, PASF members beat a young man, apparently for criticizing the Palestinian Authority’s siege on the Jenin refugee camp. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many use the word “shabiha” to describe the PASF – a term commonly used to refer to forces and groups loyal to former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Camp residents took to the streets in protest and called on the Palestinian Authority to stop its brutal attacks and end the bloodshed between relatives. But these calls were ignored. Instead, the PASF insisted that the resistance fighters abandon their weapons or leave the camp, which they categorically refused to do. It remains to be seen how this will play out, but what is certain is that more Palestinian blood will be shed before this ends.
For the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, the operation in Jenin is part of a much larger whole, which allows it to position itself as the body responsible for taking control of Gaza after a ceasefire. The logic is that if the PA can prove that it can suppress and even eliminate armed resistance in the West Bank, Israel and the United States will facilitate its installation in Gaza. However, while the Biden administration has indicated that it would support a takeover of the Palestinian Authority, the Netanyahu government has made no indication of this and, on the contrary, has categorically stated that it would refuse such a takeover. scenario. Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority leadership continues to play its role as local enforcer in the hope of obtaining further scraps from the master’s table.
As if to prove its guilt and rub even more salt into the wound, the Palestinian Authority recently announced its decision to suspend Tel Aviv Tribune’s operations in the occupied West Bank, as punishment for its coverage of Jenin. The AP follows in the footsteps of the Israeli government which also banned the media network in May 2024, in direct response to its coverage of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Although the betrayal of the Palestinian Authority leadership and its security coordination with the Israeli regime is nothing new, the current siege of Jenin has taken the betrayal of the Palestinian people to a whole new level. His civilian bloodshed, as well as his shabiha-style beatings and torture, demonstrate that he is more than willing to cross red lines and is unlikely to ever be forgotten or forgiven by the Palestinian people . None of this bodes well for the longevity of a leadership that is already suffering a crisis of legitimacy due to its inability to take a meaningful stance against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.
