Fearing a major Israeli counterterror operation will spread, Fatah officials have been pressuring terrorists in one refugee camp to turn themselves in to the Palestinian Authority.
However, Ramallah’s effort in the Balata refugee camp in Shechem (Nablus), also poses dilemmas for the PA. While the PA hopes to spare the camp a destructive raid, “the Palestinian Authority is not ready to accept armed men who turn themselves in so as not to face the need to hand them over to Israel,” a senior Fatah official told The Press Service of Israel.
Israel launched its biggest counterterror operation in months on Aug. 28 with raids focused on the Jenin refugee camp, the Nur al-Shams camp in Tulkarm, the El Fara camp in northwestern Samaria in the Jordan Valley, and the nearby village of Tubas. The raids — dubbed Operation Summer Camp — were prompted by intelligence indicating that terror groups were preparing further attacks on Israel.
The PA fears the presence of gunmen in Balata will give Israel a pretext to eventually enter that camp.
A senior Israeli official in the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command told TPS-IL, “We can dismantle the Palestinian Authority within 72 hours if that is the order. But in the meantime, the political echelon instructs us to keep Judea and Samaria as a secondary arena.”
Fatah figures speaking to TPS-IL echoed Israeli concerns about Iran’s growing influence in those areas.
One party official said Fatah is “Shocked by the increase in power of Hamas in the territories of Judea and Samaria. It is not possible that Hamas alone is capable of bringing about military activity on such a large scale.”
Asked to elaborate, he cited “Factors operating outside the boundaries of the area, probably in Lebanon, inspired by Iran. They are responsible for arming and operating the various Hamas units.”
On Aug. 21, Israel assassinated Khalil Hussein Khalil Al-Maqdah in Lebanon, who, along with his brother, Mounir, directed terror activity in Judea and Samaria on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Following the assassination, analyst Beni Sabti told The Press Service of Israel that Iranian weapons smuggling through Jordan has been going on for years but increased sharply after October 7. Sabti is a researcher on Iran for the Institute for National Security Studies, which is affiliated with Tel Aviv University.
“It’s reached dangerous levels. The Iranians have hubris. They see October 7 as a victory and they will continue smuggling weapons,” Sabti told TPS-IL.
Explaining the significance of the raids, Yaron Bouskila, CEO of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, recently told TPS-IL, “Iran is funneling weapons and ammunition through the Jordanian border to Samaria. The whole area is now flooded with weapons, so we are fighting these terrorist organizations while their supply lines remain open.”
Since October 7, Israeli security forces have arrested approximately 5,000 wanted Palestinian Authority Arab terror suspects, of whom 2,000 were members of Hamas.
