On December 28, younger journalism pupil Shatha Sabbagh stepped out of her home within the occupied West Financial institution metropolis of Jenin, along with her mom and the 2 younger youngsters of her sister. A second later, she was shot within the head and killed by a sniper’s bullet. She was simply 21 years outdated.
Shatha was killed in the identical refugee camp the place veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was assassinated by the Israeli regime in 2022. But, Shatha was killed not by an Israeli regime soldier. In line with her household, the bullet that took her life was fired by the Palestinian Authority Safety Forces (PASF).
For the last month, the PASF has laid siege to the Jenin refugee camp, in a coordinated effort with the Israelis, as a part of its efforts to crack down on armed resistance within the northern West Financial institution.
Whereas the Palestinian Authority (PA) managed to subdue resistance to the Israeli occupation in lots of different city hubs via threats and oppression, within the north there stay pockets the place armed resistance teams are nonetheless current. The town of Jenin, and particularly its refugee camp, the place each Shireen and Shatha have been killed, is one such pocket. Because of this the camp, which is dwelling to greater than 15,000 folks, has come to be seen as an emblem of resistance and steadfastness and really a lot a thorn within the PASF’s facet.
Certainly, the PA’s very existence is reliant on stamping out such resistance to the Israeli regime in all areas beneath its supposed management. As such, it constantly coordinates its actions with the Israeli military, and utilises ways of oppression which are usually indistinguishable from theirs. Actually, one might simply mistake PASF for the Israeli military, if it weren’t for his or her completely different uniforms.
And because the Israelis proceed with their genocide in Gaza, the PASF launched into their very personal intensive act of aggression in opposition to Jenin. They laid a relentless siege on the refugee camp, reducing off water, electrical energy and banning the entry of most simple provides. The PASF additionally stationed snipers on rooftops and positioned checkpoints within the streets, with a view to restrict the motion of resistance fighters.
There are additionally stories of beatings, arrests and torture. A workforce from the Palestinian Pink Crescent Society testified to being detained, crushed and interrogated for 2 and a half days whereas they have been attempting to ship medicines to besieged households.
In a video doing the rounds on Palestinian social media two males are being pressured to face on one leg and recite “the President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] is God” again and again. In one other video, members of the PASF are beating a younger man mindless apparently for criticising the PA’s siege on Jenin refugee camp. Maybe unsurprisingly, many are utilizing the phrase “shabiha” to explain the PASF – a time period generally used for forces and teams that have been loyal to Syria’s former dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Residents of the camp have taken to the streets in protest and have referred to as for the PA to halt its brutal assault, and put an finish to bloodshed between kin. However these calls have been ignored. As a substitute, the PASF is insisting that the resistance fighters both hand over their weapons or go away the camp, each of which they’ve categorically refused to do. How this performs out is but to be seen, however what is for certain is that extra Palestinian blood will probably be spilled earlier than it ends.
For the PA management, the operation in Jenin is a part of a a lot bigger image – one that permits it to place itself because the physique to take over Gaza after a ceasefire. The logic is that if the PA can show that it might quell and even eradicate the armed resistance within the West Financial institution, Israel and the US will facilitate its set up in Gaza. Nevertheless, whereas the Biden administration has indicated that it will help a PA takeover, the Netanyahu authorities has made no such indication and quite the opposite, has categorically said that it will refuse such a state of affairs. Nonetheless, the PA management continues to play its position as native enforcer within the hope of extra scraps from the grasp’s desk.
As if to show its guilt and pour extra salt to the wound, the PA just lately introduced its determination to droop Al Jazeera’s operations within the occupied West Financial institution, as a punishment for its protection of Jenin. The PA follows within the footsteps of the Israeli authorities which additionally banned the media community in Might 2024, in direct response to its protection of the continuing genocide in Gaza.
While the PA management’s treachery and safety coordination with the Israeli regime is nothing new, its ongoing siege of Jenin has carried its betrayal of the Palestinian folks to an entire new stage. Its informal spilling of civilian blood, and the shabiha-style beatings and torture, show that it’s greater than keen to cross purple strains unlikely to ever be forgotten or forgiven by the Palestinian folks. None of this bodes properly for the longevity of a management already affected by a disaster of legitimacy for its failure to take a significant stand in opposition to the continuing genocide in Gaza.
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
