Palestinian Authority struggles to stay relevant as it cracks down on Jenin fighters

For more than a week, the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have continued their security campaign in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank.

The operation, launched on 14 December, aims to assert control over armed groups in the camp, particularly members of the Jenin Battalion.

Clashes have been ongoing between the armed youth of the battalion and members of the security forces, who have imposed a siege and closed the camp’s entrances.

Living conditions have deteriorated for camp residents, who have been left without water, electricity or the ability to move freely.

The camp’s residents, who have long served as a popular base of support for the battalion, maintain that the PA's campaign serves Israeli desires to pacify the West Bank and shut down hubs of resistance to the occupation.

It coincides with an ongoing Israeli land grab in the West Bank, with settlement expansion continuing in areas nominally with shared authority between Israel and the PA.

The Israeli Civil Administration, an Israeli body established in 1981 to manage Palestinian affairs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has encroached on the PA’s responsibilities, directly managing Palestinian affairs without the mediation of the PA, as was the case before its establishment under the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Its reactivation signals the weakening and marginalisation of the PA, according to Imad Abu Awad, a researcher in Israeli affairs.

“Palestinians in the West Bank can now go directly to the Civil Administration offices to complete any transaction without involving the PA’s liaison offices," he told Middle East Eye.

Why Jenin?

The Jenin camp, located in the heart of Jenin city in the northern West Bank, has long been a hub of resistance.

Its prominence waned after the Israeli occupation forces targeted it during the 2002 invasion, a campaign that claimed dozens of lives, but armed groups reorganised in 2021 and today the Jenin Battalion is one of the main thorns in the side of both the PA and Israel.

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Amid discussions of regional political arrangements before US President Donald Trump resumes office and as preliminary talks of a ceasefire in Gaza emerge, controlling the resistance in the West Bank has become a critical test for the PA to maintain its relevance in the regional political equation.

Axios reported that the operation in Jenin was viewed as critical for the future of the PA and serves as a message to the US president-elect that they can manage their own affairs.

The security coordinator between Israel and the PA, Michael Fenzel, is personally overseeing the operation and reportedly met with the heads of Palestinian security agencies before the operation began and requested equipment from Israel to support the PA.

The PA, for its part, does not hide its motivations to demonstrate its ability to maintain control in the West Bank.

It remains determined to continue its security campaign despite the killing of three Palestinians and the injuring of dozens, including members of its security forces and armed fighters.

Palestinian security forces spokesperson Anwar Rajab told MEE that the PA’s leadership, including the president and the security agencies, had been motivated by regional developments, including the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

"Any weak political authority unable to impose its control over all areas under its jurisdiction will fail to assert its vision and will not be part of the upcoming regional arrangements," he explained.

What awaits the PA in the West Bank?

Rajab said the PA's main concern with the campaign was to prevent Israel from exploiting the situation in Jenin to take control of the West Bank.

But throughout much of the West Bank, Israeli settlements have been expanding regardless, and the authority of the PA has ebbed away.

Palestinian Maher Diab, 54, owns a tourist shop in the historical area of Sebastia in the northern West Bank. His shop is in Area B - under nominal joint control - but for years, the entire area, including the historical site, has faced threats of being isolated from the town.

'My shop has been demolished twice and is now nearly closed. Israeli practices since the war have halted all tourism activity in the area'

- Maher Diab, tourist-shop owner, Sebastia, West Bank

“My shop has been demolished twice and is now nearly closed. Israeli practices since the war have halted all tourism activity in the area," he said.

For the residents of Sebastia, annexation has not yet been officially implemented. However, according to observers monitoring land confiscation and settlement activity, the pace of “soft annexation” has increased during the Gaza war.

This has been accompanied by the re-engineering of the West Bank through the construction of more settlements, bypass roads, iron gates and checkpoints. These measures are isolating Palestinian communities from one another.

Younes Arar, Head of the public relations and media unit at the Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, said that since the war on Gaza began, settlers had established 60 new settlement outposts, while more than 26 Palestinian communities have been forced to evacuate the areas where they lived.

The most significant and dangerous of these projects, according to Arar, is the declared plan to seize control of the al-Malha area in Bethlehem. This area spans from the town of al-Sawahra to Masafer Yatta, covering 176 sq km, all of which fall within Area B.

Moreover, Israel’s finance minister announced at the beginning of December his intention to dissolve the Civil Administration.

Under this plan, the responsibilities of the Civil Administration would be transferred to Israeli ministries, effectively making these ministries directly responsible for 250,000 Palestinians living in Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the West Bank.

'There won't be political solutions'

According to Abu Awad, Israel’s efforts have met with little resistance from the PA, making it easier to transform the PA into an administrative body in any future arrangements.

He added that he believed the developments in the West Bank were closely linked to the nearing end of the war on Gaza and preparations for the authority to take control of the Strip.

Political analyst Ayman Abu Saif said that the PA was now striving with all its might to send a message to the world that it is capable of maintaining internal order - however, this will be achieved through temporary security measures rather than comprehensive solutions.

He added that the Palestinian issue will not be at the core of political arrangements and solutions in the region. Instead, there will be regional solutions, of which Palestine is merely a part.

These solutions will focus on the West Bank, while Gaza will be preoccupied with a long-term reconstruction process where the PA will not play a central role, leaving cooperation to regional actors like Egypt and international organisations.

“In the West Bank, there won’t be political solutions, but we might see economic solutions involving Arab countries, with the return of US and European aid to the PA," he said.