The cities and camps of the West Bank are living in a state of anticipation and anxiety as the Palestinian Authority security services continue their security campaign against the resistance fighters in the Jenin camp, which is considered the second largest camp in the West Bank.
Under the slogan “Protecting the Homeland,” the Palestinian Authority’s security services continue, for the third week in a row, their siege of the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank, under the pretext of enforcing the law, arresting those it described as disobeying it, and disarming them.
As of yesterday evening, Saturday, the authority confirmed that its security services “continue to pursue the militants and those behind them,” and that it will not back down from that, will not make any concessions, and will not submit to any “settlements or deals that prevent that.”
Justifications for power
Developments in the security scene in the Jenin camp have escalated since the Palestinian security services killed during the clashes Yazid Jaaysa, a leader in the Jenin Brigade affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement, in addition to a young man and a child from the camp’s residents, with injuries on both sides.
The Palestinian Authority justified its security campaign by saying that it comes within the framework of enforcing the law and protecting the Palestinian citizen, and considered that “the presence of armed men in the West Bank camps constitutes a major reason for storming them by the occupation army under the pretext of ending the Palestinian resistance, and this is what exposes the Palestinian citizen to danger.”
The Palestinian Authority also does not hide its fears of the escalation of resistance activity in the West Bank, and considers it a threat to its existence linked to security coordination with the occupation. Therefore, the development of the capabilities of the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank increases the possibility of a decline in the Authority’s security influence in the West Bank, and it fears a repetition of the Gaza Strip scenario.
Palestinian officials said that the security services’ actions come to prevent a repeat of the Gaza experience in the West Bank, and to prevent the pumping of funds from the Iranian side with the aim of recruiting elements and purchasing weapons.
These fears were confirmed by the official spokesman for the Palestinian Security Forces, Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, in a previous interview with Tel Aviv Tribune, that the security campaign targets outlaw elements – as he described them – and affiliated with international security agencies, especially the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
In confirmation of this story, Brigadier General Rajab stated – in a statement broadcast by the Palestinian Press Agency (Wafa) – that the security services were able to dismantle a group of explosive devices and cars that were planted by the Jenin Brigade in the camp, calling on the residents of the camp to be cautious and alert and to report such devices and cars.
Critical process
The Axios website had mentioned in a previous report that the military operation launched by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in Jenin is crucial to the future of the Authority, and it quoted Palestinian officials as saying that the main motive of the operation was to send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump that the Authority is a reliable partner.
The website revealed – citing sources – that aides to President Mahmoud Abbas informed the administration of US President Joe Biden and advisors to President-elect Trump in advance about the Jenin operation, and that US security coordinator Michael Fenzel met with PA security leaders before the operation to review their plans.
The Biden administration also asked Israel to approve American military assistance for the security of the Authority in the West Bank, with the aim of supporting its extensive operation in the West Bank.
As for the resistance, the behavior of the authorities’ agencies in the Jenin camp raises questions about the reality of their involvement in the draft security plan that the United States put forward in February 2023 after a meeting in the city of Aqaba in Jordan under American supervision and with Israeli participation. The “Fenzel Plan” was named after the American security coordinator, General Michael Wenzel, who coined it.
The plan bases its goals – according to a previous report published by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper – on ending armed resistance in the West Bank, and changing the orientations of the Palestinian Authority so that it becomes more solid in dealing with Palestinian resistance.
In previous statements to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, the researcher in international relations and strategic studies, Abdullah Al-Aqrabawi, said that the security services are implementing the political directions of the Palestinian Authority. Despite all the genocide Israel has committed in the Gaza Strip and targeting and killing in the West Bank, the Authority has not left the betting box. Commitment to security coordination with the occupation.
Rejection of my people and factions
The campaign was met with disapproval by the resistance factions and camp residents, and raised questions about the truth, goals and motives of this campaign, which “provides a free service to the occupation” by confronting the resistance fighters and revealing these devices that were prepared in advance to confront the incursions of the occupation forces.
The escalation of the situation cast a shadow over the people of the camp, who expressed their rejection of the security campaign against the resistance through several protest steps represented by popular demonstrations, commercial strikes, and demands from the leadership of the Palestinian Authority to withdraw the security services and stop the waterfall of Palestinian blood, and stressing that the Israeli occupation is the primary beneficiary of this fighting. Internal.
The Authority’s operations were interpreted as not only an attempt to end the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank, but also linking the resistance to terrorism by describing them as “ISIS,” to serve the agendas of the extreme right-wing Israeli government that seeks to undermine the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian factions issued a number of political statements and statements unanimously rejecting the justifications of the security services for targeting the Palestinian resistance in the Jenin camp, and stressed the necessity of stopping the Palestinian bloodshed and ending the siege of the camp, which comes in light of a war of genocide that continues for the second year in a row against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. And a continuing aggression against the West Bank and the occupied city of Jerusalem.
The Hamas movement condemned the security operation in the Jenin camp, and sounded the alarm that it comes in light of the danger threatening the Palestinian cause through the aggression against the Gaza Strip, attempts to displace the Palestinian people, annex the West Bank, and expand Israeli settlement.
For its part, the Islamic Jihad Movement stressed its rejection of the authority’s justifications, and condemned its campaign “against the resistance fighters in the Jenin camp,” and affirmed its keenness not to shed Palestinian blood with Palestinian weapons.
How do Israelis view the campaign?
Since October 7, 2023, Palestinian resistance operations against Israeli targets have escalated, whether in the West Bank or inside the Green Line, and have had major repercussions on the occupation, especially those individual operations that are difficult to monitor and predict by the Israeli security system.
The Al-Aqsa Flood Operation constituted an important catalyst in the escalation of Palestinian resistance action in the West Bank, and this resulted in the formation of armed groups and battalions, including the Jenin Battalion. It also contributed to the development of the operations, their form, the weapons used in them, and even the threat of the return of martyrdom operations.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv indicates in a report that the transformations in the Arab region – especially the victory of the Syrian revolution and the overthrow of the regime – raised a number of Israeli fears that these changes would constitute an incentive for the resistance in the West Bank to escalate its military operations against Israeli targets.
Israeli fears also stem from the development of the state of armed resistance in the West Bank in light of the continuing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip and the state of weakness that the authority suffers from and its inability to control the state of resistance, as Israeli estimates indicate that the West Bank may turn into a major battlefield alongside other fronts. Which the Israeli army is fighting with.
Evidence of Israel’s satisfaction with the campaign is what Haaretz newspaper reported that the occupation army is considering supplying the Palestinian Authority’s security with military equipment, to support the campaign launched by the Authority’s security services in the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank. The newspaper said that the army “is also studying strengthening intelligence cooperation with the Authority.” .
Organizing the ranks of the resistance
The Israeli position on the Palestinian security campaign against the resistance in the Jenin camp can be understood through what the Israeli press publishes about warnings about the escalation of resistance activities in light of talk about Hamas strengthening military capabilities and organizing the ranks of the resistance in the West Bank, according to a report by Israeli Channel 14.
Israel Today newspaper also published warnings issued by the Mini Security Council that militants in the West Bank have the intention of launching a military strike against Israel similar to the 7th of October. This explains the intention of the Israeli army, according to Israeli Radio, to deploy a security technology system in Israeli settlements that has not been used previously. Before targeting Palestinian resistance fighters.
The radio said that the system contains watchtowers and mechanisms that allow shooting from a distance, and that the army will deploy dozens of systems at the entrances to settlements and contact points to prevent infiltration. The Israeli army announced in a statement that it recently completed training 84 soldiers to join the ranks of the army in the West Bank in order to protect the settlements.
Channel 14 quoted an Israeli security official speaking about Israeli fears of the collapse of the Palestinian Authority next year, 2025, and that the Israeli security services are concerned that the ongoing clashes in the West Bank will lead to the fall of the Authority, which explains the call by the Israeli political and security system to transform the West Bank into Official battle front.
The Israeli consensus indicates the necessity of striking the resistance in the West Bank and diverting part of the military action of the occupation army to focus on targeting it, in parallel with the justifications provided by the Palestinian Authority for its operations in the Jenin camp, stating that the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank is developing in terms of organization and military capabilities, and is becoming more accepted by society. Palestinian.
Campaign outcomes
Several scenarios are presented for the expected end of this security campaign in Jenin camp:
- The first is: That the security services succeed in disarming the resistance and imposing its laws to extend its security control.
This result – according to analysts – will be costly to the Palestinian people and will result in the disintegration of Palestinian society in the West Bank and a state of tension that will not last long until it explodes again in the form of resistance brigades similar to the Jenin Brigade, and one of its priorities will be to confront the security services and the occupation at the same time.
- the second: The failure of the Palestinian Authority’s security campaign in Jenin camp.
This failure will be caused by several factors, including the Jenin Brigade’s insistence on not surrendering themselves and their weapons to the Authority, the increase in the amount of popular pressure and the escalation of the movement in support of the resistance in the camp, whether at the level of Palestinian factions, organizations or personalities, in addition to the possibility of Palestinian resistance groups entering into a confrontation with the Authority’s security services in the rest of the camp. West Bank cities and camps.
- the third: Linked to the success of the ongoing negotiations to conclude a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
If this agreement is reached, it will have an impact on the scene of escalating resistance in the West Bank, and will reinforce the importance of resistance in preserving the rights of the Palestinian people.