Report: US asked Israel to approve military aid for PA as it fights terror groups in Jenin

The US has asked Israel to approve the urgent delivery of military assistance to the Palestinian Authority amid its latest crackdown on terror organizations in Jenin as it attempts to restore order in the flashpoint West Bank city, Axios reports.

It reports that the Biden administration is seeking to provide the PA security forces with ammunition, helmets, bulletproof vests, armored cars and other essential items, but needs Israel’s approval in order to do so.

It adds that an unnamed Palestinian official appealed to the US for assistance, explaining that the terror groups — chiefly Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad — are currently better equipped than the PA security forces.

The PA has said that the operation in Jenin, the largest of its kind in years, is aimed at restoring security and stability in the area. It comes as Ramallah appears to be trying to signal that it could play a significant role in managing a post-war Gaza Strip.

But the reasons for the operation are twofold, Axios reports, as PA President Mahmoud Abbas fears that he too could be ousted in the same manner as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose family’s 50-year-reign came to an abrupt end after a lightning rebel offensive earlier this month.

“It was a Syria effect,” the unnamed Palestinian official tells Axios. “Abbas and his team were concerned that what happened in Aleppo and Damascus will inspire Palestinian Islamist [groups].”