Palestinian police should attack Israeli military

Gaza: The terrorist organization Hamas, which launched attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, has also planned to target Israel from the West Bank of Palestine. Hamas incited Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to attack Israeli civilians and the military. Last week, a Palestinian police officer attacked an Israeli army security post. It is claimed that there is distrust between the Israeli army and the Palestinian security agencies after this incident. Using this opportunity, Hamas has incited the hardliners in the Palestinian security agencies.

The Palestinian population is divided between Gaza and the West Bank. Of these, Hamas is in operating from Gaza and Fatah is in operating from the West Bank. Two decades ago, the National Security Force was established under the leadership of the Fatah party to protect the Palestinians in the West Bank. The agency is responsible for maintaining law and order in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and assisting the Israeli government in taking action against criminals. More than 42 thousand soldiers are deployed under the said Palestinian security system and it is claimed that the responsibilities of this ‘National Security Force’ are minimal.

A team of the Palestinian security forces was patrolling the Nablus area of the West Bank last week. After the team travelling in a military vehicle entered the security post of the Israeli army, Mahmoud Hajir, a soldier in this vehicle, started firing toward the Israeli army. Hazir was injured in the retaliatory action by the Israeli army. After this, the injured attacker Hajir was admitted to an Israeli hospital. Both agencies were shocked by the incident of Palestinian security personnel firing on the Israeli army.

In the West Bank areas of Nablus and Jenin, there are claims of growing distrust between Palestinian security forces and the Israeli military. Israeli analysts are warning that there can be an increase in incidents like Nablus given this mistrust. Last year, Hamas launched hundreds of rocket and missile attacks on Israel. Around the same time, there were also incidents of attacks on Israeli security personnel in the cities of Nablus and Jenin in the West Bank. After this, the influence of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad had increased in these two cities.

Under such circumstances, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Kanu has called on Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to attack the Israeli army. Kanu has incited Palestinian soldiers to attack Israeli civilians and the military, like Hajir, to liberate the territory of Palestine from Israel. Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations have also suggested that the Palestinian security apparatus follow Hajir’s lead. This appeal by terrorist organizations to the Palestinian security agencies can be lethal for Israel. Besides, this also poses a challenge in front of the Fatah organization that runs the administration in the West Bank.