The tensions in the northern West Bank area continue, reinforced PA forces are still in the city of Nablus and are preparing to prevent riots, during the night there were demonstrations by Palestinians in various places in the West Bank demanding the release from custody of the wanted terrorist, Mouseb I-Shtaya, who was arrested yesterday with his bodyguard by the PA security forces .
Mouseb I-shtaya started a hunger strike after he was transferred from Nablus to Jericho prison.
Following the heavy political pressure exerted by the Biden administration and Israel on PA chairman Abu Mazen to fight terrorism in Jenin and Nablus, Abu Mazen ordered his security forces to arrest 2 wanted terrorist, including the wanted Hamas terrorist Mouseb Ishtaya in the city of Nablus.
Following the arrest on September 19, riots began in the city of Nablus, the PA security forces were forced to bring armored vehicles into the city and when the rioters dispersed, armed terrorists shot at the PA security personnel. Firas Yaish, 53, was killed in the exchange of fire and 3 others were injured.
In response, armed terrorists shot at the Palestinian Authority’s administration building in Jenin and published a message threatening to kidnap PA personnel in response. The Hamas movement and the other Palestinian factions condemned the arrest of the two wanted terrorists.
Abu Mazen’s move arouses a lot of anger in the West Bank and in the estimation of PA officials there is a great doubt whether Abu Mazen will continue the arrests of the wanted terrorists in the city of Nablus.
In their estimation, this is a move designed to please Israel and the United States in preparation for the discussions in the UN General Assembly.
The “Al-Arabi Al-Jadid” newspaper claimed on September 20 that the arrest of the wanted persons in Nablus came after a coordination meeting between a senior representative of the IDF and Hussein al-Sheikh, a close associate of Abu Mazen, with the participation of American security personnel.
A senior official in the PA says that the days have passed when the PA fought against terrorism without compensation, according to him, the situation in the West Bank is difficult, the Palestinian public, especially the younger generation, is fed up with the Israeli occupation and is going to extremism, and the chairman of the PA Abu Mazen has no possibility to present even a glimmer of hope in the form of a “political horizon”, in the situation that has arisen, armed groups of young people are organizing in the West Bank, especially in the north of the West Bank, which has always been more nationalist and extreme, who want to fight against Israel.
“The entry of IDF forces into the city centers and refugee camps in Area A provides them with targets and thus the security escalation is created”, claims the senior Palestinian official.
“PA Chairman Abu Mazen has no intention of sending PA security personnel to fight the armed groups in the northern West Bank and to restrain them, something that could drag the entire West Bank into a civil war”.
Towards the end of his reign, Abu Mazen does not want to go down in Palestinian history as someone who cooperated with Israel and provided security services for it, including an armed conflict with his own people.
“Abu Mazen is not Antoine Lached and the security forces of the Palestinian Authority are not the South Lenanon Army”, says a senior member of the Fatah movement.
Contrary to his words, the reality on the ground is a little different, Abu Mazen is hated by his own people, he is considered to be a cruel dictator who suppresses opposition to his rule by force,
Including freedom of expression, and also to a corrupt leader who is busy with personal survival.
PA chairman Abu Mazen is trying to blackmail Israel and the US, he sees the new wave of terrorism that broke out independently in the west Banak as a lever of pressure on Israel in regards to creating a political horizon and renewal the negotiations on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
In addition, he demands that Israel completely stop the entry of IDF forces into the city centers and refugee camps in area A and respect the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority.
Abu Mazen, who has reached the end of his political career, is not interested in calming the situation as long as the armed terrorists do not threaten the Muqataa in Ramallah, he feels secure on his throne, he has American and European backing as well as moderate Arab countries, and for him this is the right time to squeeze Israel into major concessions when the sword of terror is placed on its neck.
Terrorism in the West Bank is expected to increase in the coming period for three main reasons.
A. The holiday period and the Jews’ pilgrimage to the Temple Mount during the holiday period.
B. The date of the Knesset elections is approaching.
C. The weakness of the Israeli government system – the Palestinian feeling is that Israel is confused and at a loss, it was surprised by the strength of the new wave of terrorism in the West Bank and is afraid of dealing with it, therefore it is turning to the Biden administration and the European countries as well as Egypt and Jordan to convince the PA chairman to fight terrorism, instead of making a decision on a large military operation in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli hesitation in making decisions is seen as a weakness by the Palestinians and encourages the increase of terrorism and an attempt to move it from the north of the West Bank to the center and south as well.
Back to the “wanted men agreement”
We are in a new wave of terrorism and not in the midst of a new intifada, the wave of terrorism also threatens Abu Mazen’s PA government and therefore only stopping it can save the PA from collapsing, if the PA doesn’t want or can stop it, the IDF should do the work himself to protect the lives of Israelis in the West Bank and to prevent terrorism from reaching the main cities in Israel.
In northern West Bank there are hundreds of armed terrorists and thousands of illegal weapons and huge amounts of ammunition.
We are talking about several independent armed groups that have sprung up in the Jenin and Nablus area, the “Al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalion” Group, the “Jenin Battalion” and “Arin al-Ousud (Lions’ Den).
The members of these groups are young people who did not experience the second intifada and are greatly influenced by what is happening on social media, they officially belong to some Palestinian factions, such as the Islamic Jihad, in order to receive money to finance their activities and purchase weapons and ammunition.
In Jenin they say that their organizational affiliation is for morale purposes only and that they make the decisions independently and what unites them is the geographical affiliation to the same region and therefore all members fight together in the same region to which they belong.
They operate in the centers of the cities of Jenin and Nablus, in the refugee camps and in the towns and villages that surround them.
One of the proposals being discussed in the security establishment is to put international pressure on Abu Mazen so that he offers the hundreds of terrorists wanted in Nablus and Jenin to return to the “wanted men agreement”, something that will prevent bloodshed.
In July 2007, an agreement was reached between the Israeli Shin Bet, with the approval of the political echelon, and the Palestinian Authority on the freezing of Israel’s countermeasures against about 170 wanted terrorists of the Fatah organization in the West Bank.
The condition was that they abandon the path of terrorism, hand over their weapons to the Palestinian Authority. and will be on a probationary period of 3 months, some of whom joined the security forces of the PA.
Any wanted person who agreed to the new arrangement at the time and successfully passed the probationary period received immunity from the Shin Bet from arrest or assassination.
Later on, the agreement was expanded to include 200 additional wanted terrorists, the agreement is considered to this day to be successful and something that resulted in the removal of Palestinian youths from the cycle of terrorism against Israel without bloodshed.
