A relative mourns in front of the body of Shatha al-Sabbagh, a Palestinian journalism student killed at night by a bullet to the head, allegedly fired by Palestinian security forces, according to the deceased's family. Dec. 29, 2024. (Credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is now a shadow of its former self, completely subservient to Israel's wishes and devoid of any legitimacy in the eyes of many of its people. The latest example is the PA's decision in the West Bank to suspend al-Jazeera's operations, the pan-Arab news channel based in Qatar, following in the footsteps of Israel, which in May issued an order banning the channel from operating in the country, claiming it posed a threat to Israeli security.
This recent assault by the PA on freedom of expression comes in a particularly tense context. Since the beginning of December, the Palestinian administration in the West Bank launched an operation to suppress armed Palestinian groups based in the Jenin refugee camp, particularly militants affiliated with the "Jenin Brigade." In this situation, the Palestinian Authority now accuses al-Jazeera of "disinformation" and "inciting sedition." However, in reality, the channel seems mostly guilty in their eyes of having been too critical by broadcasting several reports on the inter-Palestinian conflict, which has so far resulted in at least nine deaths, including Shatha al-Sabbagh. The young journalist was reportedly killed after being shot in the head during an operation by Palestinian security forces, who denied responsibility.
Israeli Agenda
On Dec. 15, Axios reported that the Biden administration had asked Israel to approve American military assistance to PA security forces for a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank. A few days later, on Dec. 19, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the repressive campaign in question had received the approval of the Israeli army. Channel 14 emphasized that the Israeli state had set a deadline for the PA to eradicate what remains of armed resistance in Jenin.
Because this northern West Bank city holds a special place in the history of the Palestinian struggle. Many of the suicide bombers of the second intifada (2000-2005) were from Jenin. It is here that Israel exerts its repression in the West Bank with the most brutality. The city is home to a refugee camp of the same name, where about 14,000 people live. Poverty and unemployment are at the highest rates of all West Bank camps. The lack of political and economic prospects has fueled significant resentment toward the Palestinian Authority, boosting groups more radical than Fatah, of which Jenin was long a stronghold, such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad, supported by Iran. Before the Oct. 7 attacks, Jenin was accustomed to Israeli incursions, but these have taken on much more brutal proportions since then. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Jenin camp has suffered nearly 80 Israeli raids over the past year, resulting in at least 220 deaths.
Certainly, the PA is regularly criticized for abuses committed by its security forces against Palestinians — both within the framework of its rivalry with Hamas on the local scene and to satisfy Israel and the United States to prevent disintegration. But the latest campaign launched in Jenin is unprecedented.
"The PA security agents are far more numerous than the militants. I think the ratio is about 30 to 1," said Tahani Mustafa, an expert with the International Crisis Group.
"What is happening now is unprecedented given the context in which this repression is occurring. You have a genocide happening in Gaza, and Israel has openly declared its opposition to the idea of a Palestinian state, in whatever form. Thus, the PA is at the orders of Israel while the Palestinian nation faces an unprecedented assault," explained Omar Rahman, an analyst at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs research institute, based in Doha. "This campaign takes place outside of any political or diplomatic process aimed at creating a Palestinian state or achieving independence. This is a repression responding to an Israeli agenda and not intended, as it was in the 1990s and 2000s, to advance the peace process."
How to explain the strategy of the Palestinian Authority, which knows it is more unpopular than ever? Why further tarnish its image when Palestinians are experiencing an existential moment? To whom, in sum, is Mahmoud Abbas addressing? Officially, Palestinian Authority officials claim that the operation in the Jenin refugee camp is necessary to prevent the Israeli state from using the militant presence as a pretext to expel more Palestinians from their lands and formally annex the West Bank.
"I think the PA wants to prove to the next administration in Washington that it still has a role to play at a time when several important voices within the Israeli government are seeking to overthrow it and extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank," stated Rahman. "It should not be forgotten that the PA has gradually lost control over most West Bank cities in recent years. Its relevance is questioned."
Especially since today the question arises of the post-war situation in Gaza should a ceasefire soon be reached between Israel and Hamas. The PA wants to prove to Tel Aviv and Washington that it would be able to administer the Palestinian enclave.
Frustration
A couple weeks from the arrival of Donald Trump at the White House, the PA seems to be playing for its survival. On one side its overzealousness in executing Israeli-American directives embodies, in the Palestinians' eyes, its collaboration with the occupying power, and consequently its betrayal of the Palestinian people. On the other, the PA's hands truly are tied by the security cooperation imposed by the Oslo Accords. It lacks its own central bank and relies on the Israeli banking system to pay salaries and ensure essential imports. Yet the exemptions granted so far by Israel under Washington's pressure may cease under Donald Trump's presidency. Today, the PA faces an impending economic collapse.
"Certainly, the PA faces a lot of pressure because it operates under occupation. It cannot function without Israeli support, nor can the Palestinian economy. That is part of the Oslo mistake: The leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) returned to live under Israeli occupation, compromising their freedom in decision-making," said Rahman. But for the expert, there is always a choice. "A number of measures must be taken to dissociate the PA from the PLO and restore the PLO as an institution dedicated to Palestinian liberation with a revised strategy that incorporates a different type of PA, or even its dissolution."
The PA's repression of armed organizations within the Jenin refugee camp contributes even more to its legitimacy crisis as it currently offers neither project nor vision to the Palestinians.
"Part of the current frustration comes from the fact that, for the first time in history, there is a global momentum in favor of the Palestinian cause. Yet, unfortunately, the Palestinians do not have leaders capable of capitalizing on and directing this momentum," stated Mustafa.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.