Ramallah: In a significant departure in the way the Palestinian National Authority deals with the Israeli military, the Palestinian security apparatus prevented the Israeli military from entering the city of Jenin on Thursday morning.
The event marks the second time the Palestinian security apparatus has barred the Israeli military from entering a city under the full control of the Palestinian National Authority after the military was denied entry into Tulkaram on Tuesday.
Uner the Oslo agreement, the West Bank’s administration is divided into three zones, only one of which — Zone A — is under the full control of the Palestinian National Authority of Mahmoud Abbas.
A heated argument is reported to have erupted between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian security personnel on the southern entrance to Jenin, but the Palestinian security forced the Israelis to return.
Sources in Jenin Governorate confirmed the incident claiming that, contrary to the norm, the Israelis might not have coordinated their incursion with the Palestinian National Authority this time. Usually, the Israelis inform the Palestinian security about military activities to secure free access to the Zone A areas. The incursion was aimed at arresting several Palestinian activists in the city.
The Jenin Security Leadership headquarters declined to comment on the incident.
Many West Bank Palestinians were overjoyed with what they said was a “new way” in the Palestinian forces’ handling of Israeli military forces.
Sources said that Tulkarem security apparatus’ leadership on Tuesday ordered its staff to deploy military jeeps in the path of the Israeli soldiers and prevent them from entering the city. The Israeli forces finally stepped back and withdrew.
A senior official at Tulkarem Security Leadership Headquarters said that the Israeli forces asked to enter the city of Tulkarem early in the morning when thousands of children were on their way to school.
General Ebrahim Henahen, who heads the Palestinian National Guards in Tulkarem, ordered hundreds of Palestinian security forces to block the Israeli soldiers from entering the city.
The security official said that despite the intensive attempts by the Israeli soldiers to secure access to the city, they were denied.
The official said the ban was aimed at “protecting the Palestinian public and mainly the children from the aggressive actions of the Israeli soldiers who would have clashed with the schoolchildren if they had entered the city”.
