The protest was the latest in a number of anti-PA demonstrations by Palestinians in Jenin in recent weeks, marking yet another fissure in the deepening rift between Palestinians and the PA.
The Jenin Brigade has condemned the Palestinian Authority’s continued arrest of resistance fighters. As tensions rise, the camp enters the most dangerous phase of the counterinsurgency effort to eradicate it.
The Israeli army’s bulldozers and airstrikes not only leveled Jenin refugee camp, but paved the way for the PA to return to the camp and reassert its influence. This is the unofficial second phase of the Jenin operation.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet announced a decision that Israel “would work to prevent the collapse” of the Palestinian Authority as Mahmoud Abbas seeks to re-establish PA control in Jenin.
The resurgent resistance in Jenin shows that a narrow refugee camp with limited capabilities can slow an entire army and preserve its capacity to resist.
Twelve Palestinians, including at least four youths, were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin this week during a massive military operation on the Jenin refugee camp that lasted 48 hours. Over 120 Palestinians were also injured during the raid.
After failing to eliminate the Palestinian resistance in Jenin despite repeated invasions, the Israeli army has now launched its largest attack on the city in over 20 years, including over 150 armored vehicles and 1,000 ground troops.
The transfer of unprecedented powers over the occupied West Bank to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich has deepened the rift between Israel’s military-security establishment and the rising settler bloc.
The Israeli army has redoubled its efforts to crack down on armed resistance in the West Bank, but its recent raid on Balata refugee camp ended in failure as the wanted resistance fighters evaded capture.
Armed resistance in the West Bank is caught between the combined efforts of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to undermine its growth.