Palestinian Authority Fights Its Own People in Struggle to Survive
TULKAREM, West Bank—When Palestinian security forces last week tried to remove barricades preventing Israeli soldiers from entering a refugee camp, local residents were incensed. A resulting gunfight between militants and Palestinian security forces ended with a 25-year-old man shot dead and a growing sense of resentment among ordinary Palestinians who see their government as inept, corrupt and, some say, a collaborator with Israel in occupying the West Bank.
“After this, everything is broken," said Mohammed, who saw the fight break out from his falafel shop. “We have no trust in them." Standoffs such as the one in Tulkarem are becoming more common as the Palestinian Authority tries to reassert its grip on power and prevent its rivals and a range of militant groups from gaining influence.
It has been dangerously weakened over the past year in the midst of a flood of illegal weapons into the area and anger over near-daily incursions by the Israeli military that have made 2023 one of the deadliest years for Palestinians in nearly two decades. In recent weeks, the semiautonomous authority has been pursuing a sometimes violent crackdown on militants and arresting hundreds of political rivals, part of a do or die effort to maintain its hold over the West Bank.
“It is their last gasp," said Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former Palestinian negotiator with Israel. “They are beginning to feel that the end is near." The authority’s role as the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people is especially important now, as the U.S.
works to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has given the Saudis a list of concessions from Israel that he wants to
. Read more on livemint.com
