Palestinian Authority (PA) Launches Operation To Defeat West Bank Terror Militias; Hamas In Response: This Is Political Suicide On Part Of PA

The Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces recently launched a military operation of unprecedented scope and intensity against the "Jenin Brigade" Palestinian terror militia, which is based in the Jenin refugee camp and comprises mainly members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).[1] Like other terror militias in the northern West Bank, the Jenin Brigade challenges the authority of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and acts to undermine the PA and establish infrastructure for terrorism and armed struggle against Israel from within the West Bank, with Iranian support. The Brigade's activities have intensified recently, to include the use of explosive charges and car bombs not only against the Israeli military forces but also against officers in the PA's security apparatuses.

A recent example of the Jenin Brigade's efforts to undermine the PA and its security forces took place on December 5, 2024, when militia operatives stole vehicles belonging to the PA, draped them with the flags of the terrorist groups Hamas, PIJ, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and drove them around the Jenin refugee camp. They also opened fire on offices of the PA security forces. This show of defiance, which was concurrent with the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, was perceived as part of the militias' efforts to topple the PA and the rule of its president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Against this backdrop, on December 14, 2024, the 37th anniversary of Hamas' establishment, the PA announced "Operation Homeland Defense," aimed at regaining control of the Jenin refugee camp "at all costs," as Mahmoud Abbas put it.[2] Sources in the PA security forces said that the military operation is aimed at preventing the militias, which operate on behalf of foreign elements (i.e., Iran), from carrying out an armed coup against the PA in the West Bank, as they did in the Gaza Strip.[3] After regaining control of Jenin, the PA security forces plan to extend the operation to other governorates in the northern West Bank, such as Tulkarm and Tubas, where other armed militias are attempting to undermine the PA's rule.[4]

The operation was met with intense criticism from the terror groups, who described it as "political suicide" on the part of the PA. Hamas' student wing distributed a graphic warning that Abbas' fate will be similar to that of ousted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Conversely, the PA government daily published a series of articles condemning the Palestinian terror militias and praising the security forces' operation against them. The articles state that the group's activity is not resistance but rather terrorism by ISIS supporters, and warn that the Iranian axis, which nurtured these groups, is no longer able to defend them.

This report will review of the escalation in the conflict between the PA's security forces and the Jenin Brigade militia, as well as PA reactions to this escalation.

Jenin Brigade terrorists driving vehicles stolen from the PA around the Jenin refugee camp (Image: T.me/rueib_alkian, December 5, 2024).

PA Security Forces Spokesman: The Jenin Brigade's Armed Operatives Are "Outlaws" That Act Like ISIS

Following the escalation in the conflict, PA security forces spokesman Anwar Rajab issued a series of statements harshly condemning the Jenin Brigade and accusing it of serving "dubious agendas" – a reference to the agenda of the Iranian regime – and of fomenting chaos and fitna (civil strife). He said that the security forces had foiled a car bombing against them, a "cowardly crime that reflects ISIS-like methods" and contravenes the values of Palestinian society. Explaining that Operation Homeland Defense is meant to "uproot" the criminals that have "sold themselves" to foreign elements, he added: "We were surprised by the quantity and quality of the weapons possessed by these [Jenin Brigade] cells – particularly since we, the Palestinian security forces, do not have such weapons."[5] In another statement he stressed that the PA security forces are determined to bring all the militia operatives to justice and to dry up its sources of funding.[6]

PA Prime Minister: The Militias Serve Foreign Elements, Undermine The Palestinian National Project

Alongside launching the military operation, PA officials visited the Jenin governorate and underlined the importance of enforcing the law, imposing order, and preserving the PA's rule, in accordance with the directives of President Abbas. In a special meeting he held on December 14 at the Jenin Governorate headquarters, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa said that "we cannot remain silent about the situation that has developed" and that the PA is no longer willing to negotiate with the Jenin Brigade. He stressed that Abbas had ordered to enforce law and order in Jenin and to defend its residents against elements that are "influenced by foreign agendas"  detrimental to the Palestinian national project, especially since what is happening in Jenin has an impact on other West Bank governorates.[7]

The Fatah movement, which is the ruling party in the PA, expressed solidarity with and full support for the PA security forces. On December 10, its Revolutionary Council called to take "swift" action against the "outlaws" and protect the PA institutions from them.[8] Fatah Deputy Secretary-General Sabri Saidam urged to put an end to the "chaos."[9]

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa at a meeting in Jenin with the commanders of the PA security forces (Image: Wafa.ps, December 14, 2024)

Jenin Brigade Defies The PA: We Will Not Allow It To Invade The Refugee Camp; We Have Large Amounts Of Military Gear

Since the beginning of the military operation, elements in the Jenin Brigade have openly defied the PA, warning that they will not allow it to take control of Jenin – particularly of the Jenin refugee camp – and comparing the PA security forces to the Israeli military. Militia official Muhammad Al-Amer said: "The PA security forces will invade the refugee camp over our dead bodies. We have military gear, weapons, pipe bombs, and explosives that have been planted in various places."[10] Another militia official accused the PA of being is subordinate to "foreign American agendas" and threatened its security forces: "The Jenin Brigade is now more powerful than ever before. We will not allow [them] to invade the refugee camp like the [Israeli] occupation does…"[11]

Hamas, PIJ Respond To Jenin Operation: The PA Is Committing "Political Suicide"

The PIJ, whose operatives are dominant in the Jenin Brigade,[12] issued a statement harshly condemning the PA's military operation in Jenin and accusing its security forces of committing crimes and encouraging civil war, and thereby playing into Israel's hands.[13]

Hamas, which also has operatives in the Jenin Brigade, likewise charged the PA to terminate the military operation, stop the arrests and release those who have been detained, end its security coordination with Israel and join the struggle against it.[14] Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said that continuing the operation in Jenin constitutes "political suicide" on the part of the PA.[15]

A graphic circulated by Hamas' student wing in the West Bank threatened that PA President Abbas will meet the same fate as ousted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, with a caption reading: "History has no mercy for tyrants, no matter how powerful."[16]

Anti-PA graphic circulated by Hamas' student wing in the West Bank, comparing PA President Abbas to ousted Syrian President Assad: "History has no mercy for tyrants, no matter how powerful" (T.me/islamickutla22, December 10, 2024)

Hamas' student wing in the Arab American University in Jenin likewise issued a statement harshly condemning the PA's military operation against the militias, which said: "Any attempt to eliminate the resistance is a moral and national crime… We stress the legitimate right of our people to resist by every means. Any attempt to eliminate this is a stab in the back of the Palestinian liberation enterprise… We call on all the national and Islamic forces to unite in confronting this policy and act to strengthen the steadfastness of our people in the Jenin refugee camp and in all other areas where the resistance [is active]…We underline that our people has chosen the option of resistance and no force in the world can break its will… Any action [aimed at] suppressing its will only intensify the commitment to the option of legitimate resistance to the occupation until liberation and return [are achieved]."[17]   

PA Mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida: We Will Pursue Iran's Mercenaries Without Mercy; Jenin Refugee Camp Must Not Become Like ISIS

Against the backdrop of the escalation in Jenin, the PA mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published a series of articles condemning the militias and praising the operations of the PA security forces. Its December 15 editorial stated: "The outlaws in Jenin – who cloak themselves in Iranian funding and embrace its conspiratorial agendas – do not understand… that the world of the resistance axis is a thing of the past, since its positions and arenas have collapsed one after the other… [The outlaws], who have lost their unawareness, reason and realistic perception, [also] fail to understand a more important fact, namely that the Jenin refugee camp, whose area does not exceed one square kilometer, cannot be a substitute for the Gaza Strip, which measures 364 square kilometers, [but nevertheless suffered] Israel's brutal war and aggression, [which caused] devastation and  destruction, with hundreds of thousands of victims: dead, wounded, displaced, hungry and thirsty. [All of] this [was carried out ] on the pretext of the October 7 [attack] that was carried out by Hamas based on the same slogans that are now bandied about by these outlaws [in the Jenin refugee camp], who do not possess the weapons or the missiles that Hamas and the PIJ had…

"Nor can the Jenin refugee camp become like ISIS, on any pretext or by any name. All those who read the Quran correctly reject [the use of] explosives and car bombs against their family and compatriots. Here we must praise the security forces that thwarted the [car] bombs and the terrorist plots of the ISIS supporters. These [security] forces are the protectors of law and order, of the [national] idea and the journey to national liberation [that will continue] until the ouster of the occupation and the establishment of a free and independent state. We thank them for thwarting the car bombs of the ISIS supporters. The outlaws must understand that the guns of the militias will continue to be hired guns that are ineffective in the confrontation with the guns under government supervision, the weapons of national ideology which are wielded by the members of the [PA] security forces."[18]

The daily's December 12 editorial harshly criticized the Jenin militias that call themselves "resistance" organizations, stating: "…What resistance is this? Does anything remain of its axis [i.e., the Iran-led resistance axis]? Some of its leaders fled to Damascus, and now they are possibly in Teheran, scratching their heads, because this is a pretty rickety home. This is where Isma'il Haniya was eliminated by a mystery missile!!!"[19]

A December 8 editorial stated in a similar vein: "…Enforcing the law by pursuing those who break it and holding them to account is a task that the PA security forces continue to fulfill, with no bargaining, no hesitation, no reluctance and no mercy… The militia [that belongs to] the world that is collapsing must understand this before it is too late."[20]

Journalist In PA Daily: No To Resistance Based On Planting Bombs And Firing Rockets Among Civilians

Political analyst Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, who was a political adviser to former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, wrote on his column in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida: "…No Palestinian is against   resistance. But what [kind of] resistance do we want?... Resistance based on taking the law into one's own hands and planting car bombs in crowded places in order to kill all the civilians, including members of the security forces, [who are] the armor of the homeland and its protectors? Or the opposite [kind of resistance]?

"In the same context, [do we want] resistance based on launching rockets from the [camps of] the displaced people in Gaza, on day 435 of the genocide, when there is an opportunity to sign a prisoner exchange deal and stop the genocide and the Israeli 'scorched earth' war? [Do we want] resistance based on attacking [fellow members of the Palestinian] people and murdering fighters and patriots [just because they] think differently and oppose the Israeli genocide and the theft of the humanitarian aid and trafficking in it? [Do we want] resistance focused on incitement, sowing discord among the people and opposing national unity, as conveyed in the statement issued by Hamas yesterday [December 14, 2024] during the current developments in the Jenin refugee camp?... On the 37^th anniversary of Hamas' founding, will this movement and the [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad stop this absurd policy?"[21]