Open-source intelligence gathered by the Behind the Scenes OSINT Cell reveals the Palestinian Authority (PA) has stockpiled significant weaponry and resources for a potential all-out war.
Video: Palestinians training near Israeli communities / Usage under Israel's Intellectual Property Law Article 27a
The documented arsenal includes anti-tank weapons and widespread use of RPG-7 launchers during training exercises and military parades in Jericho. The National Security Battalions have heavily utilized PKM heavy machine guns – chain-driven weapons with a 7.62 millimeter (0.3 inches) caliber – to generate continuous, devastating firepower. Operatives have also converted standard M16, M4, and AK-47 assault rifles into long-range sniper rifles equipped with telescopic sights for pinpoint accuracy from a distance.
The Oslo Accords violated
Palestinian forces possess armored vehicles and vast quantities of explosives, directly violating the Oslo Accords (the 1990s peace agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which established the PA). The treaties explicitly prohibit these forces from manufacturing or holding offensive explosive materials. However, this 60,000-strong Palestinian police force now operates effectively as a small army equipped with advanced weaponry and heavy armor.
The OSINT researchers warn this structural overhaul and massive weapons procurement have shifted the Palestinian Authority's operational doctrine, creating a major strategic threat to Israel. The Police Academy and the Jericho training center have upgraded their curriculums to match rigorous infantry warfare standards. This newly implemented training features hot breaching tactics and complex urban warfare scenarios.
Palestinian Authority officer courses now include detailed studies of Israeli community and military base defense systems. The trainees learn specific methods to breach and overcome these security arrays. While security coordination persists at the uppermost leadership echelons, the rank-and-file field operatives are undergoing rapid radicalization.
Graduates returning from training programs in Pakistan and Russia have openly adopted jihadist rhetoric, declaring, "Israel's wall will be destroyed." By 2024, data showed the direct involvement of roughly 78 police officers and commanders in terrorist attacks against Israelis over a three-year period. This statistic highlights a direct pipeline of military knowledge and state-issued weapons flowing into actual terrorism.
Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs recently published a comprehensive study on this escalating threat. He notes the Palestinian Authority no longer conceals its transition into a de facto military force. The leadership frequently boasts about this transformation on official television broadcasts and proudly highlights the operations of the "Palestinian army." One recent video even featured a senior official giving an interview against a backdrop displaying the organization's new title, "The General Military Training Commission (GMTC)."
Rehearsing the unthinkable
The latest officers' course concluded with a final exercise involving grueling long-distance marches and a simulated vehicle interception. Palestinian Authority soldiers practiced forcefully extracting occupants from cars, mirroring the chilling hostage-taking footage from October 7. Hirsch's research indicates that while many Palestinian Authority security personnel train in local facilities, others receive advanced instruction from foreign hostile entities.
The HaKol HaYehudi news outlet revealed in May 2024 that numerous Palestinian security officers had completed full-scale military training at Pakistan's national military academy. Their curriculum covered armored warfare and artillery drills, alongside specialized instruction in firing shoulder-launched missiles, operating heavy machine guns, advanced sniping, and paratrooper drops.
The prospect of these forces turning their weapons against Israel threatens millions of residents living in the country's densely populated center. Hirsch points out that the terrorist cells responsible for the October 7 massacre traveled as far as Ofakim (a southern Israeli city), which sits 22 kilometers (14 miles) from the Gaza border. In contrast, millions of Israelis live at much closer ranges to the borders of Judea and Samaria.
A potential northern incursion from Jenin would immediately endanger Afula, Yokneam (cities in northern Israel), and surrounding municipalities, placing roughly 340,000 citizens in the line of fire based on current estimates. A westward assault originating from Tulkarm could devastate both the Seam Line communities (towns near the 1949 armistice line) and major urban centers, putting nearly 500,000 lives at risk.
Further south, a westward breach from Qalqilya threatens to completely paralyze Highway 6 (Israel's primary north-south toll road) and trap tens of thousands of rush-hour commuters. A breach from the fence in this direction could endanger over two and a half million citizens according to various estimates.
Concern over the PA turning on Israel
Diplomatic officials are growing increasingly alarmed by the prospect of a "turning of the guns" scenario in Judea and Samaria, where PA forces could direct their state-issued arsenals against Israelis, Israel Hayom has exclusively learned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz explicitly requested a situational assessment regarding Central Command's (the IDF command responsible for Judea and Samaria) readiness for this exact threat during a security briefing on Monday when they toured the command's top garrison. However, military officials present at the headquarters attempted to steer the discussion toward localized incidents of settler violence instead.
The data Netanyahu saw during the Central Command discussion seemingly indicates one of the quietest periods in Judea and Samaria, and the fear is of the calm could be misleading. According to defense establishment data obtained by Israel Hayom, there were 35 terrorist attacks and 103 attempts in the first half of 2024 – from January to June – and 40 terrorist attacks and 31 attempts in the second half – from July to December.
A decrease in the number of terrorist attacks occurred in 2025. There were 15 terrorist attacks and 14 attempts in the first half – from January to June – and 12 terrorist attacks and 13 attempts in the second half – from July to December. The dramatic decrease occurred in 2026, with two terrorist attacks and five attempts in the first half – from January to June. Between July and Tuesday, four terrorist attacks and two attempts have been recorded.
