Rights and Accountability 15 December 2024
Still image from footage moments before Palestinian Authority security forces opened fire at 19-year-old Ribhi al-Shalabi and his 15-year-old cousin in Jenin, northern occupied West Bank, on 9 December.
The Palestinian Authority recently launched a deadly military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp, assassinating a member of an armed group on Saturday and killing both a Palestinians teen and a child.
Anwar Rajab, the spokesperson of the PA “security” forces, claimed the military operation – dubbed “Operation Protect the Homeland” – was intended to “put an end to sedition and chaos,” The New York Times reported, a euphemism for the PA doing Israel’s bidding by targeting armed Palestinian groups resisting Israel’s land grabs and military occupation.
Rajab called this “a new stage” where PA forces aim to “regain control of the Jenin camp from lawbreakers who ruin the lives of the citizenry” amid a campaign of killings and arrests.
PA forces invaded Jenin with armored vehicles on Saturday, killing Yazid Jaaysah, a member of the Jenin Brigade, a group associated with Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.
Jaaysah was wanted by Israel. Local media circulated a picture of him following his killing as Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad condemned his murder:
Palestinian militants have been resisting the PA’s incursion into the camp, exchanging gunfire with its forces. At least 22 Palestinians have been injured in the Israeli-style military raid since the early hours of Saturday.Palestinian child Muhammad Imad al-Amer succumbed to wounds that he sustained on Saturday by PA forces’ fire.
Imad al-Amer, the child’s father, said in a Facebook post that Muhammad was standing at the door of the house when a PA sniper fatally shot him.He added that his other son, who had a prior injury, tried to assist Muhammad but was also shot by PA forces and is now receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Local groups reported a surveillance drone hovering over Jenin as PA forces carried out their ground incursion. The drone resembled those used by Israeli forces during military invasions and operations in the occupied West Bank.
PA forces declared the area surrounding multiple hospitals in Jenin a closed military zone and forced journalists to leave on Saturday, mirroring tactics used by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Since 8 December, PA forces “took command of the upper floors and roof of the Jenin governmental hospital and used the premises as a base to conduct” operations, including “shooting from inside the hospital,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The PA operation is being carried out with full coordination with Israeli occupation forces, Israeli media reported.
It appears that the PA is attempting to demonstrate its value to its Israeli counterparts by suppressing resistance in the West Bank.
A source within President Mahmoud Abbas’ office told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the issue of armed resistance “has spilled over from Jenin, [and] Arab and Western officials are asking for clarifications.”
The unnamed source added that “[Abbas] and the [Palestinian] Authority are unable to enforce order in a city like Jenin, how can you expect [them] to enforce order in the Gaza Strip and around the West Bank?”
PA forces reportedly said that the “purpose of the operation is to restore control in the Jenin refugee camp in the face of lawbreakers who have harmed residents’ daily lives and blocked their right to receive public services freely and safely.”
But it’s Israel’s repeated invasions of Jenin and the PA’s own crackdown that apparently prevents Palestinians from accessing these services.
Not only have two youth so far been killed by PA gunfire, but PA forces also “surrounded the Jenin hospital and cut off electricity and water to the camp,” according to Al Jazeera.
Also, camp residents went on strike on Sunday to mourn the killing of Palestinians at the hands of PA forces.
Killing teen
This came days after PA forces shot dead a teenager.
On 9 December, PA security forces killed 19-year-old Ribhi Muhammad al-Shalabi while he was riding a motorcycle with his 15-year-old cousin, who was injured with a shot to the head.
Footage of the incident shows a PA armored vehicle reversing around a corner when a motorcycle enters the scene and comes to a stop.
The armored vehicle can then be seen driving slightly forward.
The two youths sit still in the motorcycle for about 10 seconds before one of them raises his arm, seemingly to wave at the armored vehicle and signal they’re unarmed.
At that moment the armored vehicle opens fire at the teens, and they fall off the motorcycle to the side.
The teens were on their way to deliver food from their family’s cafe to a nearby neighborhood when they were shot at by the PA forces, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Their family said the pair were carrying a box of onions.They were unarmed.
Al-Shalabi’s family claimed that PA forces had briefly abducted their son’s body before dumping it in the street again.
Additional footage that emerged corroborates this narrative.
In the video, PA forces are seen trying to lift a limp body into the back of an armored vehicle.
The PA initially denied any involvement in the killing of al-Shalabi.It was only after video evidence of the murder surfaced and popular unrest developed that the PA launched an investigation and announced it takes full responsibility for the killing of al-Shalabi.
Calls on dismantling the PA
Intensified PA aggression in Jenin sparked widespread unrest, with calls for the dismantling of the collaboration body.
A member of the PA forces resigned from his position and publicly disavowed the body following the killing of al-Shalabi, taking off his uniform.
PA forces are Israel’s foot soldiers.The body’s raison d’être is to suppress Palestinian opposition and resistance to help Israel maintain its occupation in the West Bank while promoting the illusion of Palestinian autonomy and representation.
In the areas where the PA has nominal control, Palestinian forces are only allowed to arrest other Palestinians. They cannot touch Israeli soldiers or settlers who attack Palestinians.
This means in practice that the PA exists to protect Israel and its settlers, and to police Palestinians on Israel’s behalf.
The PA’s key role in suppressing Palestinian protest and resistance to Israel’s military occupation is why the US and European states fund it.
But that mask is falling off.
Since 7 October 2023, PA forces have killed at least 13 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including teens.
Since 8 December, PA security forces have upped their attacks on Palestinians in Jenin – an area already severely devastated by successive, days-long Israeli assaults.Israel’s deadly attacks have included aerial bombardments, killings of Palestinian militants as well as children. One devastating Israeli tactic has been the uprooting of roads and infrastructure in northern West Bank cities and refugee camps under the guise of uprooting improvised explosive devices.
Amid escalated Israeli violence and its genocide in the Gaza Strip, the PA continues to abet Israel’s colonial project in the occupied West Bank.
Add new comment