Continuing crackdown, PA arrests five members of Islamic Jihad near Jenin
Terror group responds by calling for demonstrations across West Bank against ‘treacherous’ Ramallah
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Palestinian Authority security forces carried out a raid against Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Sunday night in the town of Jaba, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of Jenin, according to reports from the terror group.
Five members were reportedly detained, including a commander and a former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group linked to the PA’s ruling Fatah party.
The arrests seemed to indicate that the PA was continuing its crackdown on the organization, following arrests it carried out during and immediately after the Israeli operation in Jenin two weeks ago.
In a series of statements, the Al-Quds Brigades, the local branch of Islamic Jihad, harshly condemned the PA campaign against its members, calling it a “morally unacceptable crime” and a “real threat to our struggle and the blood of our martyrs.”
The terror group claimed that the PA was doing the work of Israel and that the two entities were “two faces of the same coin,” keeping the Palestinian people under “two occupations.”
In another operation the previous night, the PA reportedly arrested the uncle and cousin of 17-year-old Majdi al-Ararawi, one of the 13 gunmen killed by the IDF in the Jenin operation.
Islamic Jihad also reported that two of its members detained by the PA have started a hunger strike. They were arrested by the PA on the night of July 3, as they were on their way to fight in Jenin during the IDF operation.
The two men, Murad Walid Malayshe (34) and Muhammad Walid Barahme (37), spent over 10 years in Israeli prisons for terror-related activities and are among “the most wanted by Israel,” according to the Palestinian website Palinfo. They are currently being detained in a PA prison in Jericho.
The Jenin Battalion, another local faction affiliated with Islamic Jihad, called for demonstrations in all major West Bank cities Monday night to protest the “political arrests” by the “treacherous Palestinian Authority.” The PA responded by deploying security forces, armored vehicles and snipers, according to videos circulating on Palestinian social media.
Based on reports in Palestinian news outlets and on Islamic Jihad’s Telegram channel, it appeared that only in Jenin did people actually take to the streets in large crowds.
تغطية صحفية: "انطلاق مسيرة في مخيم جنين؛ رفضاً للاعتقال السياسي وملاحقة الأجهزة الأمنية الفلسطينية للمشتبكين". pic.twitter.com/ZRTiUyaovz
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 17, 2023
Israel carried out the major Jenin operation on July 3-4 to crack down on what it said was a hotbed of terror in the city. Multiple attacks on Israelis in recent years have been carried out by Palestinians from the area, and observers say the Palestinian Authority has little control on the ground.
Palestinian health officials said 13 people were killed, and at least 100 others were wounded. All of the slain Palestinians were involved in the fighting, but there were some noncombatants among the wounded, according to the IDF.
In a Monday phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden hailed the PA’s effort to restore security control over Jenin and other areas of the West Bank as steps that boost prospects for a two-state solution.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
