Anticipating Trump, Palestinian Authority eager to crush militants: analysts

The Palestinian Authority is determined to score a win against militants in the Israeli-occupied West Bank ahead of Donald Trump's presidency, aiming to demonstrate its ability to control post-war Gaza, analysts told AFP.

The security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited control over the West Bank, have been engaged in deadly clashes with gunmen since early December, triggered by the arrests of several militants.

They are fighting members of the Jenin Battalion group, most of whom are affiliated with either Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, is the main political rival of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party that dominates the PA.

The violence in Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of armed groups in the northern West Bank and a frequent target of Israeli military raids, has killed 11 people including PA security personnel, militants and civilians.

"What is happening in Jenin is a crucial test for the Palestinian Authority, which is trying to assert its control and impose security in the region," said political analyst Khalil Shahin.

An official with the Ramallah-based PA, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation in Jenin, said that Abbas "categorically rejects any mediation... and insists these militants surrender themselves and their weapons".

Anwar Rajab, spokesman for the PA's security forces, said "there will be no tolerance for this rogue group that operates outside the law".

The intra-Palestinian clashes erupted amid a major raid by PA forces on the Jenin camp, after the December 5 arrest of a Jenin Battalion commander on charges of possessing weapons and illicit funds.

Armed Palestinian factions in Jenin and elsewhere portray themselves as a more effective resistance to the Israeli occupation than the PA, which coordinates security matters with Israel.

Analysts say that in Jenin, the PA is trying to prove it can control the violence and demonstrate that it could bring stability to Gaza once the war is over.

Shahin said the PA was trying to "weather the storm" of the Gaza war, Israeli offensives and regional upheavals ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January.

- 'Illusions' -

"The PA hopes that, after Trump sees its ability to control Jenin, he will support it in governing Gaza after the war, unlike President Joe Biden," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has ruled out any role for PA as well as Hamas in governing Gaza after the war ends.

During Trump's first term, US relations with the PA rapidly deteriorated over what the Palestinians viewed as a series of moves to sideline them.

Trump broke with most of the world by moving the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He also suspended aid to Palestinians and gave his backing to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

Hani al-Masri, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies, said the timing of the Jenin raid appeared to strategically coincide with the lead-up to Trump's return to the White House, as well as the possibility of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza after nearly 15 months of war.

In an analysis piece for his institute, Masri warned against the "illusions" of trying to appease Trump or believing he would take a different approach in his second term.

The PA "believes it will be acceptable to the new Trump (presidency) if it lowers" its demands or opposition, Masri said.

While Hamas and Islamic Jihad accuse the PA of effectively serving Israeli interests, many fear a more intense outbreak of intra-Palestinian violence, against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza and a surge in Israeli military raids and settler attacks in the West Bank.

Videos have circulated showing alleged abuses by Palestinian security forces, further increasing tensions between the rival camps of the PA and Hamas.

Hamas has condemned "grave violations" by the PA's forces, while Fatah has denounced those who "legitimise chaos and anarchy".