Palestinian Authority declares it will not disarm Jenin terrorists, praises fight against Israeli 'occupation'
Palestinian Authority (PA) officials revealed on Wednesday it does not intend to disarm the Jenin Brigades or any other terror group in Jenin that fights against the Jewish state.
Akram Rajoub, the PA's governor in Jenin, said the capital Ramallah “holds in high esteem anyone who carries weapons and resists the occupation.”
At the same time, Rajoub stressed that the regime “won’t allow anyone to carry weapons under the banner of resistance and attack our institutions and shoot at our security forces.”
He denied that Ramallah cooperated with the Israeli government against the Jenin-based terrorists during Operation Home and Garden earlier this month.
“We will impose law and order. We didn’t arrest anyone from Jenin Refugee Camp. The only people who were arrested are those who attacked the police station in Jaba’. All those who attacked the station will be arrested and held accountable.”
More than 1,000 Israeli military forces took part in the counter-terrorism operation in Jenin, which has developed into a major hub of anti-Israel terrorism. The intense fighting claimed the lives of at least ten terrorists and one IDF soldier.
The Israeli Defense Ministry said that the growing lawlessness in Jenin made it a fertile ground for terrorist activities.
“The city of Jenin, and in particular the refugee camp, is a stronghold of terror that exports terrorism to the entire [West Bank] and the home front,” IDF Brig.-Gen. Avi Bluth said at the time.
In his statement, Rajoub claimed that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas can move freely in the Jenin area.
“The Palestinian president can go anywhere he wants, and at any time he wants. We don’t need to negotiate with anyone and we don’t need permission from anyone. These claims are nonsense. It’s as if these gunmen control Jenin and President Mahmoud Abbas needs permission from them to visit. This is shameful and unacceptable,” he argued.
However, Abbas reportedly made his first visit to Jenin in a decade earlier this month, primarily because of the unstable situation following the counter-terror operation.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
