Blinken to Abbas: Use Special Forces to Take Control of Jenin, Nablus or Risk Third Intifada
© AP Photo / Vahid Salemi
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As violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories continues to flare, partner nations are urging both sides to de-escalate or risk a massive new Palestinian uprising. Two previous uprisings, dubbed “intifadas,” or “shrugging off,” occurred from 1987 to 1993 and 2000 to 2005, both resulting in major Israeli concessions.
When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this week, he urged the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to reestablish its control over cities of Jenin and Nablus using a US security plan, according to reports in US media on Thursday.
While tensions have been high and violence regular in the West Bank and East Jerusalem for years, they began rising even higher in November. At the time, several far-right parties made big gains in the Israeli Knesset elections, winning key seats in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The slide downhill into the present situation began a week ago, when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet internal security bureau carried out a massive raid in the Jenin refugee camp that allegedly aimed at detaining several members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). However, the raid resulted in the deaths of 10 people, including children and elderly, and over a dozen others were injured by, among other things, the tear-gassing of a hospital.
In the aftermath of the Jenin raid, the PNA ended its cooperation with Israel in protest, and numerous foreign partners, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States, have urged them to reestablish contact.
Numerous attacks by both sides have followed, including rockets fired from Gaza, retaliatory IDF airstrikes, a shooting that killed several Jews in East Jerusalem, and a riot by Jewish settlers in Nablus that targeted Palestinian homes and shops, among other incidents.
According to US news reports citing US and Israeli officials, Blinken urged Abbas to adopt a security plan drawn up by US Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, the US security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The plan calls for training a special Palestinian response force that would be deployed to Jenin and Nablus to fight the Palestinian militias that have won increasing local support, but have also been the target of Israeli attacks.
The PNA officials reportedly told Fenzel they already lack the legitimacy to operate during the day in those areas.
They were reportedly extremely hesitant about the plan, especially since it involved making no demands from Israel at all, such as reducing IDF raids into Palestinian cities. In effect, the PNA would be doing the IDF’s job for them if it adopted the plan, but shoring up its own authority instead of Israel’s.
The PNA’s authority has steadily waned with its support in the West Bank, amid Fatah’s grip on power, widespread allegations of corruption, and its continued cooperation with the Israeli government amid the raids. An early 2021 poll ahead of elections that were later canceled found that Abbas was likely to lose to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and that the group would also likely get more votes than Fatah, Abbas’ party.
Hamas also controls the Gaza Strip, where it won elections in 2006, resulting in a split between Palestinian factions as Fatah retained its hold over the West Bank. As Israel imposed a total blockade of Gaza and Hamas continued to militantly resist the IDF, its clout has grown, just as Abbas’ and Fatah’s have fallen.
In April and May 2021, some of the worst violence seen in years unfolded as attacks on Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and worshipers at Al-Aqsa mosque were attacked by Israeli Jews and police, and Hamas and PIJ responded with a massive rocket bombardment. The IDF replied with airstrikes and artillery in an exchange that went on for 11 days and killed more than 250 people, nearly all of them Palestinians in Gaza. While a fragile peace has barely held, none of the issues that led to the fighting have been resolved.
