The Palestinian Authority’s assault on Jenin: A direct collaboration with Israeli interests

Jan 15, 2025

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network unequivocally denounces and condemns the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ongoing violent assault on Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, which serves the interests of the Israeli occupation and represents a betrayal of the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation.

The PA’s actions, including armed raids, the deployment of armoured vehicles, the extrajudicial killing of resistance fighters and civilians, and the systematic targeting of journalists, activists, and youth, directly advance Israel’s agenda. In recent weeks, reports have documented the use of live ammunition against unarmed residents, night-time home invasions, and the destruction of private property under the pretext of ‘security operations.’

A deliberate blockade has left residents without adequate food, water, electricity, or medical supplies. At least eight Palestinians have been killed by PA forces, including journalist Shatha al-Kabbagh, while in the past 24 hours alone, Israel has also bombed Jenin refugee camp, killing six Palestinians, including a child. 

More than 150 Palestinians – activists, students, and community leaders – have been arrested, with many still detained despite court orders for their release.

The PA has also suspended Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank – a grave assault on press freedom which follows Israel’s recent ban on Al Jazeera, along with the targeted assassinations of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza during the past 15 months, in retaliation for the broadcaster’s coverage on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has urged the PA to immediately end its ban, stating that its ‘decision to ban Al Jazeera on the basis of vague and unsubstantiated allegations amidst escalating violence and human rights violations suggests that the real objective of the Palestinian Authority is to block international scrutiny and silence uncomfortable criticism.’

This operation by the PA is not an isolated instance but a calculated effort to dismantle the camp’s long standing role as a symbol of defiance and to suppress any organised resistance to occupation.

APAN calls on the international community, including the Australian Government, to condemn the PA’s complicity in the occupation and to hold it accountable for its role in perpetuating violence against Palestinians. Jenin refugee camp must be protected from further aggression, and the Palestinian people’s right to resist occupation and achieve self-determination must be supported.