PA faces pressure from Israel, US to rein in West Bank terror groups

The PA is facing increased pressure from Israel, the US, and other parties to take tough measures against armed groups and gunmen in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian official in Ramallah said on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Authority, on the other hand, is also facing pressure and threats from many Palestinians to end the security coordination between the Palestinian security forces and the Israeli authorities in the West Bank, the official told The Jerusalem Post.

The PA, in addition, has come under attack for failing to order its security forces to engage IDF soldiers and settlers.

PA believes Islamic Jihad behind shooting attacks targeting security officers

In the past few days, two senior Palestinian security officers, Muhanad Marzouk and Faleh Arar, were the targets of shooting attacks. No one was hurt.

The PA believes gunmen belonging to the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were behind the attempted assassinations.

The official denied claims that the PA has lost control of the northern West Bank, specifically Nablus and Jenin, where several armed groups have popped up over the past 18 months. 

“Our security forces are in control of the situation,” the official argued. “If anyone has lost control of the situation it’s Israel. We’ve seen how the Israeli army and police are incapable of reining in the extremist settlers in the West Bank.”

According to the official, contrary to what is being reported in the Israeli media, the PA security forces have been putting heavy pressure on some of the armed groups and gunmen to lay down their weapons.

“We worked very hard to convince scores of gunmen to hand themselves over to the Palestinian security forces,” he said. “In Nablus, more than 36 gunmen have turned themselves into the security forces. Others agreed to hand over their rifles.”

Palestinian arrests of West Bank gunmen

Last week, PA security officers arrested Falah Sawalmeh, a resident of the Far’a refugee camp northwest of Nablus who is also wanted by Israel for his role in terrorism. Sawalmeh was one of the commanders of a new armed group in his camp. The PA security forces have refused to release him until he hands over his M-16 rifle.

In Jenin, PA officers have been exerting pressure on some families to persuade their sons, who are members of armed groups, to hand themselves over to the Palestinian security forces. One of them is the Abu al-Haija family, whose members are known to be affiliated with PIJ.

According to the official, the Lions’ Den armed group, which operated in Nablus over the past few months, has ceased to exist “largely thanks to the efforts of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service and the Protective Security Service.”

Several members of the group agreed to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian security forces and are currently staying inside security installations in Nablus. The group was responsible for a series of shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the Nablus area over the past few months.

Mosab Shtayyeh, one of the founders and leaders of the Lions’ Den, has been in PA custody since September 2022. His arrest triggered a wave of violent clashes between gunmen and PA security forces in Nablus. Shtayyeh is said to be affiliated with Hamas.

“The Americans and other parties are fully aware of the efforts our security forces are making to enforce law and order in the areas under our control in the West Bank,” the official said. “In the past five months, we arrested several gunmen and confiscated 13 rifles.”

But Palestinian sources pointed out that many of those arrested by the PA security forces are political activists, not members of armed groups.

“The Palestinian Authority arrests political activists and opponents, then tells the Israelis and Americans that it’s combating terrorism,” the sources noted.

In the past week, PA security forces arrested a number of university students from An-Najah University in Nablus and Bir Zeit University, north of Ramallah. Among those arrested are Abdel Majid Hassan, chairman of the newly elected student council at Bir Zeit University, as well as the former chairman of the council, Omar Kiswani.

On Monday, Hassan and Kiswani were transferred to the PA’s notorious Jericho Prison. The two are affiliated with the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc, which recently won the student council elections at the two universities.