On December 28, a young journalism student, Shatha Sabbagh, left her home in the West Bank city of Jenin, with her mother and her sister's two children. Moments later, he was shot in the head and killed by a sniper's bullet. He was only 21 years old.
Shatha was killed in the same refugee camp where the former journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli regime in 2022. However, Shatha was killed not by an Israeli soldier. According to his family, the bullet that took his life was fired by the Palestinian Authority security forces (PASF).
For the last monthThe PASF has besieged the Jenin refugee camp, in cooperation with the Israelis, as part of its efforts to combat armed forces in the northern West Bank.
While the Palestinian Authority (PA) managed to counter the Israeli defeat in many other urban areas through threats and repression, there are pockets in the north where armed resistance groups still exist. The city of Jenin, and especially its refugee camp, where both Shireen and Shatha were killed, is one such pocket. This is why the camp, which has more than 15,000 people, has been seen as a symbol of resistance and stability and as a thorn in the side of the PASF.
Indeed, the existence of the PA depends on ending resistance to Israeli rule in all areas under its control. As such, it aligns its activities with the Israeli military, and uses repressive measures that are often unrecognizable from theirs. In fact, one could easily mistake the PASF for the Israeli army, were it not for their different uniforms.
And while the Israelis continue to kill people in Gaza, the PASF began to commit atrocities in Jenin. They continuously besieged the refugee camp, cutting off water, electricity and preventing the entry of essential goods. The PASF also placed barricades on the roofs of buildings and set up checkpoints on the streets, to limit the movement of fighters.
There are also reports of beatings, arrests and torture. A group from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society he testified detained, beaten and interrogated for two and a half days while trying to deliver medicine to the besieged families.
In a circular video on Palestinian social media two men are forced to stand on one leg and repeat the words “President Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is God” over and over. In another video, PASF members beat a young man apparently senseless for protesting the PA siege on the Jenin refugee camp. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many are using the term “shabiha” to describe the PASF – a term used to describe militias and groups loyal to former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Residents of the camp have protested in the streets and called on the PA to stop its brutality, and stop the bloodshed between the brothers. But these calls were not ignored. Instead, the PASF is insisting that the fighters surrender their weapons or leave the camp, both of which they flatly refused. How this will play out remains to be seen, but what is certain is that more Palestinian blood will be shed before it ends.
For the PA leadership, the operation in Jenin is part of a bigger picture – one that allows it to position itself as the organization to take over Gaza after the end. The idea is that if the PA can prove that it can end and end armed resistance in the West Bank, Israel and the United States will support the establishment in Gaza. However, even a The Biden administration has shown that it would support the takeover of the PA, Netanyahu's government has not shown anything and instead, it has categorically stated that it will reject this. Despite this, the PA leadership continues to play a role as a force for the natives and hope for leftovers from the master's table.
As if to prove its guilt and pour more salt into the wound, the PA recently announced its decision to suspend Al Jazeera's operations in the occupied West Bank, as punishment for its coverage of Jenin. The PA is following in the footsteps of the Israeli government which also banned the media network in May 2024, in direct response to its coverage of the massacres taking place in Gaza.
While the PA leadership's betrayal of the security agreement with the Israeli government is nothing new, its siege of Jenin has taken the disloyalty of the Palestinian people to a new level. His casual bloodshed, as well as the beatings and torture of the shabiha, show that he is willing to cross red lines that cannot be forgotten or forgiven by the Palestinian people. None of this reflects the long-term existence of a leadership that is already suffering from a legitimacy crisis due to its failure to act against the genocide in Gaza.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect Al Jazeera's influence.