The latest string of settler terrorist acts against Palestinian communities, coupled with the advancements shown by the West Bank resistance forces, is leading towards a dramatic escalation inside of the occupied territory. As the current Palestinian political scene remains divided, with no sign of national elections in sight, the hunger for a unified leadership is growing and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is now faced with a crucial set of decisions.
“Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom-fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” These were the words of former Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader, Yasser Arafat, during his speech to the United Nations in 1974. In contrast, PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s latest UN Speech was punctuated with the following highlight quote:
“We are being beaten up every day. Protect us, protect us. Why aren’t you protecting us? Aren’t we human beings? Even animals are protected. If you have an animal, you won’t protect it? Apparently, you don’t protect animals.”
In contrast to the tone of the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli politicians have not been attempting to beg for help, instead they are saying the quiet part out loud when it comes to their approach towards the Palestinians. Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, gave a speech this Friday morning, stating the following:
“We need to have a full and whole settlement here, not only here, but in all the hills around us. We should settle the Land of Israel, and at the same time, launch a military operation, take down buildings and eliminate terrorists. Not just one or two, but dozens and hundreds and if needed, thousands.”
This statement from Ben Gvir this morning is worth translating because it encapsulates the leading agenda of the current Israeli government: killing Palestinians and building settlements on behalf of a great ideological mission. pic.twitter.com/3k3zrytvt9
— Nimrod Flaschenberg (@Nimrod_Flash) June 23, 2023
Itamar Ben Gvir is himself an illegal settler who lives in one of the most radical settlements in the West Bank, located on stolen Palestinian lands inside the city of al-Khalil (Hebron). The speech was delivered upon the security ministers arrival to the Israeli settler outpost of Evyatar, which even violates Israeli law at this current time, as it has not been approved by the government as of yet.
Whereas the Palestinian Fatah Party-aligned youth, belonging to The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades armed resistance groups, have adopted the position that Arafat’s olive branch has long fallen, leaving only the freedom-fighter’s gun left, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority remain adamant on hoisting it up. Despite announcing it five times, the PA has refused to actually cancel its security coordination with the Zionist regime’s occupation forces, drawing the ire of Palestinian society. According to a recent poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, roughly 80% of Palestinians want PA President Mahmoud Abbas to resign. The West Bank leader, who has seized control of all the key components of the PA during his reign, has blocked all national elections since 2005 when he was voted in for a four year term.
On Monday, the West Bank began to explode with violence once again. However, this time, the chain of violent events that transpired had stemmed from a successful ambush, carried out by Jenin Brigades fighters, against invading Israeli armored vehicles. Officially, the Israeli occupation army admitted that 7 of its soldiers were injured, 1 in serious condition, when explosive devices were detonated directly under their vehicles. This triggered a disproportionate military response by the Zionist forces, who used Apache helicopter gunships to fire a missile towards Palestinian fighters for the first time since the Second Intifada in the early 2000’s.
Overall, the events in Jenin resulted in 7 Palestinians being killed, two of which were active fighters and the rest civilians. A teenage girl and boy were included among the dead in Jenin. Nevertheless, the ambush had proven successful and the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Quds Brigades, announced that the Israelis were covering up their true casualty numbers. This event signaled that the armed groups inside the West Bank are evolving, not only in their explosive manufacturing abilities but also in their tactics, which are becoming more sophisticated. This has led to former Israeli minister of war, Avigdor Leiberman, announcing in the Knesset that “it won’t be long before Qassam rockets” are launched from Jenin. The rhetoric of Zionist politicians reflects the anxiety felt by Israeli settlers in the West Bank at this time.
On Tuesday, two operatives that belonged to the Hamas-affiliated Qassam Brigades of the West Bank, successfully carried out a resistance attack against illegal Israeli settlers, near to the entrance of “Eli” settlement. Four settlers were killed, with four others left injured. Both of the Palestinian resistance fighters were murdered. The attack managed to shake the settlers and reinforce the idea that Palestinian resistance fighters could potentially kill them anywhere.
In a fit of rage, racist Israeli settler fanatics went on a rampage through nearby Palestinian villages, committing a pogrom against the people of Turmusaya. Roughly 400 armed Jewish settlers raided the village, protected by the occupation forces, torching 30 houses and 60 vehicles; over 100 Palestinians were injured, 12 by live bullets, and a 27-year-old man was shot dead. When PA Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, visited Turmusaya, the following day, a local resident stated to the media that “I place the responsibility for the attack, first of all, on the Palestinian government [PA]”. The local man, who had his home burned down by settlers, went on to say that “you have 70 thousand forces, distribute them to the villages”, urging the PA to use its forces to protect Palestinians.
On Wednesday night, Israeli occupation forces then carried out their first missile strike assassination attack inside the West Bank since 2005. Three Palestinian resistance fighters were struck by a number of missiles that were fired from a drone, while they were located inside a car near the Jalama checkpoint. The occupation army announced that the rules of the game had changed, to which the resistance groups released statements that threatened a proportionate response.
During the recent escalatory events, the criticism of the PA’s inaction towards taking any tangible steps that will provide safety to West Bank Palestinians has become hard to ignore. People understand that all dialogue between the PA and Israel, regarding the so-called “Two-State solution”, ended in 2014 and that there is no hope for these talks being revived. Despite this, it emerged that assurances were again sent this week, from the PA to the US government, that they will continue to maintain security coordination with the Israelis.
Earlier this year, following a number of massacres that were committed by Zionist forces throughout the West Bank, the PA decided to attend two security conferences that were organized by the US Biden administration. The meetings that were held in Aqaba, Jordan, and then in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, were designed to bring the Zionist occupation forces and PA security forces closer together. The US was hoping to set forward a plan, whereby the PA’s security apparatus would aid in dismantling the armed resistance forces that are based primarily in the northern West Bank. This initiative has failed so far, as the PA has been faced with a near impossible scenario where it is essentially being requested to directly confront the resistance forces in areas like Jenin and Nablus. Due to the inability of the PA to go ahead with confronting the thousands of West Bank resistance fighters head on, the Israelis are now being pressured to carry out the task of an invasion of the northern West Bank by their own settlers.
The time has come for the PA to pick a side and formulate a plan that will take them towards their desired future. If the Ramallah based Authority — which only has limited jurisdiction inside the occupied West Bank — is to sit on the fence and pretend that the current situation on the ground is not as it is, this will lead to chaos. Mahmoud Abbas is currently 87 years old and is suffering from a number of chronic health issues, which may mean that he will be forced to resign soon or may even pass away in the near future. If Abbas is to exit power while there is no clear successor and there becomes a competition for who will rule the PA with the same absolute powers that the President currently has, things could get extremely messy.
Although Abbas may not be the most savvy political decision maker, he has demonstrated the ability to balance the political scene surrounding him and seize power, without creating an inter-party war. However, the split inside his Fatah Party began to visually manifest itself during the lead up to the — later canceled — Palestinian national elections that Mahmoud Abbas announced in early 2021. Time is running out for the PA, and this game of playing it safe, keeping the Israelis, the Americans, and their European backers happy, is no longer a viable option. The Palestinian Authority must take the step towards backing the resistance forces in the West Bank if they are going to garner public support, otherwise, they are only heading towards their own annihilation.
According to Israel’s Kan TV channel, the head of its Shin Bet intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, met at the UN headquarters with senior officials of the organization to warn them about the deterioration of the Palestinian Authority. Israel knows that in the event that the PA is to collapse, it will be forced to re-occupy the main city areas where the bulk of the Palestinian population live, which will prove a military and economic burden. When the Israelis are worried about the PA’s situation to the point of approaching the United Nations about it, this demonstrates that things are not stable. Part of the PA’s function, at least in the minds of the Israeli leadership, is to convince the Palestinian population to calm down and win over relative trust, as this prevents conflict between the people and Israeli occupying forces. The problem they face, however, is that Israel and the US also want the PA to collaborate with their occupiers and openly work as their agents, which then delegitimizes them in the eyes of their people.
Times have changed, and an even greater confrontation is brewing, which is why the PA has to win the favor of the Palestinian people, who will only trust them if they adopt the option of armed struggle. The realization that the PA will have to come to is that the US and Israel will not longer view them as a partner, instead pursuing them as terrorists like they do Hamas, but this is the only way forward that will prevent its collapse.
