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Why Palestinian forces are cracking down on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank

Why Palestinian forces are cracking down on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank
Well, not *** lot of detail was provided about the specifics of the call between Netanyahu and Trump. But there's enough there that we can kind of read between the lines and understand the critical timing of that conversation and what it tells us about the kind of broader pattern here we know that the Israeli Prime Minister spoke with President Elect Trump about the ongoing negotiations to try and reach *** cease fire and hostage deal. The Israeli Prime Minister himself has said that they spoke about the need to complete Israel's victory but also about the need to free the hostages. And so you can hear in that certainly that the Israeli Prime Minister is trying to make the case for both getting to *** deal, but also perhaps not the war in Gaza altogether until Hamas is completely defeated as he continues to kind of pursue this total victory that he has promised the Israeli public since October 7th of last year. What we also know though is that the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration have been really working quite closely together to try and see if *** deal is achievable and not necessarily that that deal would have to wait until President elect Trump takes the oath of office on January 20th. Rather, when we saw the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan here in Tel Aviv last week, he talked about his hope that through his travels in Israel, but then subsequently to Cairo and to Doha that he could put in place what would be needed to get *** deal by the end of the month. And so that seems to be what all of the parties are racing towards is to see whether or not in the coming weeks, if *** deal can indeed be put together. We heard the Israeli Defense Minister today say in ***, as he was testifying before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the knesset, the Israeli Parliament, that *** deal is quote closer than ever. We have of course heard such such optimistic pronouncements from other officials in the past and Jake Sullivan was very cautious on Friday to say, you know, I've been optimistic before. We thought we were close before and we did not get there. So they don't wanna uh say that *** deal is done until it actually is, but certainly there is cause for optimism and uh the the parties seem to be narrowing uh the gaps, how soon they can actually do that and whether they can get it over the finish line is anyone's guess at this point.
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Why Palestinian forces are cracking down on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank
Gunfire has rung out for days from the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp. But this time, it's not Israeli forces that are facing off against armed groups. It is the forces of the Palestinian Authority clashing with Palestinian gunmen.The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied territory, launched a rare crackdown earlier this month that has sparked one of the worst armed confrontations between Palestinians in years.Video above: Trump's call with Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin NetanyahuThe authority says it wants to bring law and order to what's long been a hotbed of militancy and a place where it has little control.Its ability to contain armed groups there will reverberate far beyond the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority wants to position itself to take over governance in Gaza once the war there ends. But confronting Palestinians at a time when many view the authority as a subcontractor for Israel could deepen divisions in Palestinian society.Here is a look at the days of fighting between Palestinians in the West Bank: Earlier this month, security forces for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority stormed into Jenin refugee camp, a restive militant stronghold, and began a crackdown against armed groups.Fighting has raged in the streets of the camp, and armored cars are seen patrolling. Palestinian security forces have taken over part of a hospital, using it as a base and shooting from inside, according to the United Nations.At least one militant from the Islamic Jihad group has been killed as have two security force members, according to the Palestinian forces. About 50 people have been arrested.At least two uninvolved civilians have been killed and some wounded. The fighting prompted the main U.N. agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, to suspend its services, including schooling. The violence has disrupted safe access for Palestinians to other services, including water and health. It also has complicated the restoration of services destroyed in previous Israeli raids of the camp. The urban, built-up refugee camp in the northern West Bank houses Palestinians whose families were displaced in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It has long been a center for Palestinian militancy and a bastion of armed struggle against Israel. The militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas operate freely there, and its streets are regularly lined with posters depicting slain fighters as martyrs for the Palestinian cause. The Palestinian Authority, which administers the main Palestinian population centers of the West Bank as part of interim peace agreements with Israel from the 1990s, has little presence in Jenin. Many people view the Palestinian Authority forces with suspicion and see them as serving Israel's interests because of security coordination that has facilitated Israel's own crackdowns on Palestinians.The refugee camp and the adjacent city of Jenin have long been targets of Israel in its stated bid to stamp out militancy. Since the start of the war in Gaza, which has sparked a wave of violence in the West Bank, Israel has raided or carried out airstrikes in Jenin multiple times, killing dozens and leaving heavy destruction.Palestinian health officials say Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youth throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed. According to Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, the spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces, the raid is meant to impose law and order and restore peace and security. The troops were focused on "eradicating" Iran-backed groups that were trying to incite "chaos and anarchy," he added. The raid will end when those goals are reached, according to the security forces. But the raid is also shining a spotlight on the Palestinian Authority's ability to impose order and security in a restive area. With no clear vision for who will administer postwar Gaza, the raid could convince skeptics that the authority has what it takes to rule the Palestinian enclave. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is considering an agreement with Hamas that would create a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war. The committee would report to him.The Biden administration sees a rehabilitated Palestinian Authority as the best option to govern and secure postwar Gaza. The U.S. has for years invested heavily in training the Palestinian security forces, and the administration has seen its re-entry into Gaza, after being routed by Hamas in 2007, as a feasible replacement for Hamas, whose rule Israel has sought to end with the war. Israel rejects this idea, seeing the Palestinian Authority as too weak to be able to contain Hamas. It says it will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza.The incoming Trump administration has not yet laid out its vision for postwar Gaza, but Trump's first term was overwhelmingly supportive of Israel's positions. Palestinians are not strangers to divisions within their society, with the most prominent the rift between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party.The parties fought bloody street wars in Gaza before Hamas forced Fatah out of the territory, and the sides have failed to reconcile since. Since then, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has tried to diminish Hamas' influence in the West Bank, often with Israel's help.Reeling from the yearslong internal rift, Palestinians have staged general strikes and protests calling for unity. But the raid could deepen the perception of the Palestinian Authority as a facilitator of Israel's whims and potentially undermine any popular support for it to return to effectively rule Gaza.Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Gunfire has rung out for days from the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp. But this time, it's not Israeli forces that are facing off against armed groups. It is the forces of the Palestinian Authority clashing with Palestinian gunmen.

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The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied territory, launched a rare crackdown earlier this month that has sparked one of the worst armed confrontations between Palestinians in years.

Video above: Trump's call with Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu

The authority says it wants to bring law and order to what's long been a hotbed of militancy and a place where it has little control.

Its ability to contain armed groups there will reverberate far beyond the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority wants to position itself to take over governance in Gaza once the war there ends. But confronting Palestinians at a time when many view the authority as a subcontractor for Israel could deepen divisions in Palestinian society.

Here is a look at the days of fighting between Palestinians in the West Bank:

Earlier this month, security forces for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority stormed into Jenin refugee camp, a restive militant stronghold, and began a crackdown against armed groups.

Fighting has raged in the streets of the camp, and armored cars are seen patrolling. Palestinian security forces have taken over part of a hospital, using it as a base and shooting from inside, according to the United Nations.

At least one militant from the Islamic Jihad group has been killed as have two security force members, according to the Palestinian forces. About 50 people have been arrested.

At least two uninvolved civilians have been killed and some wounded. The fighting prompted the main U.N. agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, to suspend its services, including schooling. The violence has disrupted safe access for Palestinians to other services, including water and health. It also has complicated the restoration of services destroyed in previous Israeli raids of the camp.

The urban, built-up refugee camp in the northern West Bank houses Palestinians whose families were displaced in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It has long been a center for Palestinian militancy and a bastion of armed struggle against Israel. The militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas operate freely there, and its streets are regularly lined with posters depicting slain fighters as martyrs for the Palestinian cause.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers the main Palestinian population centers of the West Bank as part of interim peace agreements with Israel from the 1990s, has little presence in Jenin. Many people view the Palestinian Authority forces with suspicion and see them as serving Israel's interests because of security coordination that has facilitated Israel's own crackdowns on Palestinians.

The refugee camp and the adjacent city of Jenin have long been targets of Israel in its stated bid to stamp out militancy. Since the start of the war in Gaza, which has sparked a wave of violence in the West Bank, Israel has raided or carried out airstrikes in Jenin multiple times, killing dozens and leaving heavy destruction.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youth throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

According to Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, the spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces, the raid is meant to impose law and order and restore peace and security. The troops were focused on "eradicating" Iran-backed groups that were trying to incite "chaos and anarchy," he added. The raid will end when those goals are reached, according to the security forces.

But the raid is also shining a spotlight on the Palestinian Authority's ability to impose order and security in a restive area. With no clear vision for who will administer postwar Gaza, the raid could convince skeptics that the authority has what it takes to rule the Palestinian enclave. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is considering an agreement with Hamas that would create a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war. The committee would report to him.

The Biden administration sees a rehabilitated Palestinian Authority as the best option to govern and secure postwar Gaza. The U.S. has for years invested heavily in training the Palestinian security forces, and the administration has seen its re-entry into Gaza, after being routed by Hamas in 2007, as a feasible replacement for Hamas, whose rule Israel has sought to end with the war.

Israel rejects this idea, seeing the Palestinian Authority as too weak to be able to contain Hamas. It says it will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza.

The incoming Trump administration has not yet laid out its vision for postwar Gaza, but Trump's first term was overwhelmingly supportive of Israel's positions.

Palestinians are not strangers to divisions within their society, with the most prominent the rift between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party.

The parties fought bloody street wars in Gaza before Hamas forced Fatah out of the territory, and the sides have failed to reconcile since.

Since then, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has tried to diminish Hamas' influence in the West Bank, often with Israel's help.

Reeling from the yearslong internal rift, Palestinians have staged general strikes and protests calling for unity. But the raid could deepen the perception of the Palestinian Authority as a facilitator of Israel's whims and potentially undermine any popular support for it to return to effectively rule Gaza.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.