A Palestinian police officer admitted to planning to carry out a shooting attack on a Jewish community near Jericho Monday.
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The officer had stolen a Palestinian police car and driven it to the entrance of Moshav Vered Yeriho, where he began to fire at the security guard there. When the guard took cover, the Palestinian officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, began firing bullets into the air. He was later arrested by Palestinian security forces. During his interrogation, he admitted to planning to carry out an attack. Officials are now investigating whether he has any ties to Islamic Jihad.
The general sense on the Palestinian street is that the PA and its mechanisms are not acting to protect residents from repeated Israeli raids in Jenin and the surrounding area, one Palestinian in Ramallah said.
Thus far, resistance to security coordination between the PA and Israel has come mainly from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. According to the Palestinian source, additional sectors of the Palestinian public are now beginning to question the utility of the coordination.
Criticism of the Palestinian security mechanisms has increased following the assassination of Islamic Jihad operative Ahmed Saadi by IDF and special forces in the Jenin refugee camp last Saturday. Saadi was wanted by PA security forces but had evaded capture. When Israel got hold of him, Palestinians saw this to be the result of the PA's security coordination with Israel.
Alongside calls to halt security coordination, calls have also arisen for Palestinian security officials to join the struggle. The concern is that while PA President Mahmoud Abbas is busy coordinating with Jerusalem, some members of his security forces may attempt to challenge his role in power.
The incitement voiced by Ra'ad Hazem, a former senior Palestinian official whose son carried out Saturday's terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, points to Palestinian security officials' continued support for the Palestinian struggle. The fact that commanders in the Palestinian security forces visited Hazem's relatives' mourning tents in the Jenin refugee camp serves as a reminder that they too serve the Palestinian issue.
According to the Ramallah resident, "Any potential delay to their salaries as a result of the PA's financial situation" or the deduction of payments to terrorist salaries from taxes collected by Israel for the PA could inflame tensions on the ground.
The steps taken by Israel in the war on Palestinian terrorism pose a dilemma for the PA, forcing it to choose between maintaining security ties and the will of the people.
Meanwhile, merchants in Jenin warned Israel's restrictions on Arab-Israelis entering the West Bank city will hurt businesses and could further stoke tensions.
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The ban was imposed in response to the latest terror attack in Tel Aviv, in which a Jenin resident opened fire at a crowded bar, killing three Israelis. Jenin residents are also barred from visiting Israel.
Such crossings are key economic arteries for Jenin, where Arab Israelis regularly shop.
The Jenin Chamber of Commerce said the ban could cost merchants hundreds of thousands of dollars as Arab-Israelis account for nearly 70% of purchases in the city, Haaretz reported.
"In the run-up to Ramadan, the city's merchants stocked up on food, furniture, and any wears considered relevant to the holiday, so the entry ban is a serious blow to them," said Amar Abu Bakr, a chamber member.
Akram Rajoub, the Palestinian Authority's governor of the Jenin district, accused Israel of "political terror," according to a Haaretz report.
He said that if the restrictions were not rescinded, they would "only increase the tensions and frustration … it will cause escalation."
The IDF's increased presence along the Seam Line, meanwhile, has significantly decreased the number of Palestinians entering Israel illegally through holes in the security fence.
Security forces have expressed concerns the increased pressure on undocumented Palestinians may lead them, and perhaps potential attackers among them, to now try and find other ways to infiltrate Israel, including by crossing the Green Line in areas where construction of the security fence has yet to be completed.
The IDF is expected to reinforce troops along the completed fence in the coming days to prevent such infiltration into Israel. It will not, however, be able to maintain the increased presence long-term as the troops will need to continue with their training. Should the terrorism wave continue, the IDF may need to call up reserve soldiers to guard the fence.
Against this background, the diplomatic-security cabinet on Sunday unanimously approved a 360 million shekel (around $112 million) plan presented by Defense Minister Benny Gantz. The plan will see the construction of an additional 40 kilometers (around 25 miles) of separation fence to close off central holes in the fence in critical areas around the Seam Line, a term used to refer to areas east of the Green Line and west of the Jerusalem-adjacent security fence.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
