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The Palestinian Authority (PA)

Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (March 22-28, 2023)

This past week Palestinian terrorists carried out four shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria two soldiers were wounded. Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities. Their activities focused on the Tulkarm region, where the commander of the Tulkarm Battalion was killed, and on the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp (near Jericho). The Gaza Strip remained relatively calm. IDF forces intercepted a Hamas UAV flying over the Gaza Strip. Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya said in an interview that the battle against Israel was reaching its final confrontation, and that Israel's weaknesses were being revealed day after day. Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh continued meeting with foreign diplomats to gain support for the Palestinian issue.
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A Weaponizing the Law Conference in the Gaza Strip to discuss the legal battle against Israel

Within the framework of the legal battle the Palestinians are waging against the State of Israel, on March 18, 2023, a conference was held in the Gaza Strip with the theme, "Jurists Confronting the Occupier." Speakers at the conference stressed the importance of using the law to attack Israel, claiming it was no less important than the "military" and political activities against it. The conference offered recommendations, including the need to use the law as a weapon against Israel as a fundamental "resistance" [anti-Israeli activity] method at every level and in international forums. Using the law as a weapon against Israel is not new, and for years has been an integral part of the political "struggle" waged by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and often part of its activity to delegitimize Israel. The political, propaganda and military objectives are the following:
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Hamas threatens escalation and encourages terrorist attacks during Ramadan

Ramadan officially begin on March 23, 2023 and end on April 21, 2023. Given the current tension in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem and the events of past years, Palestinian sources, especially in the Hamas leadership, reiterate that the situation is unstable and likely to deteriorate sharply. They threaten escalation and worse if Israel continues its "activities against the Palestinians and al-Aqsa mosque," for them the red line which could ignite the region. Marwan Issa, the deputy head of Hamas' military-terrorist wing, gave a rare interview where he claimed that any change in the status quo of al-Aqsa would cause "a regional earthquake." The security prisoners in Israeli jails also claimed they would go on hunger strikes throughout the month.
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Protests in Israel and the rejection of the government’s new legal reforms from the perspective of the Palestinians and Hezbollah

The Palestinian media are systematically covering the demonstrations held in Israel to protest the legal reforms advanced by the Israeli government. Their reports are generally informative . Several Palestinian political commentators related to the issue. Some stressed that its unity was being eroded. Some even called on the Palestinians to unite and exploit the crisis to advance the "liberation" and to continue the "resistance." The Iranian and Arab channels also devote a large part of their airtime to events in Israel and encourage the division in Israeli society. High-ranking Hezbollah figures relate to the protests and push their own narrative, which stresses the "temporary nature of the Zionist entity" and quote Hassan Nasrallah's speech about the "spider web.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (March 1-7, 2023)

This past week there was a shooting attack at the Beit Hagai Junction (south of Hebron); one Israeli was wounded. The Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities, focusing on the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho and detaining the terrorists who shot and killed an Israeli on February 27, 2023. During the activity one Palestinian was killed. Palestinians continued throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles driving on the roads in Judea and Samaria. The Gaza Strip remained relatively quiet. After several delays, the envoy from Qatar arrived to discuss the renewal of the Qatari donation of funds. The law for giving terrorists the death penalty, which passed its first vote in the Knesset, led to a series of strong condemnations in the Palestinian Authority (PA), including calls for a mass uprising and threats against Israel.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (February 22-28, 2023)

This past week Palestinians carried out seven terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria, killing three Israeli civilians: Fourteen Israelis have been killed since the beginning of the year. Following the shooting attack in Hawwara, Israeli settlers entered the town and burned Palestinian houses, public property and vehicles. The heightened tension resulted in an increase in the number of rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli vehicles. Six rockets were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Five were intercepted by Iron Dome aerial defense system and one fell in an open area. A political-security summit meeting was held by representatives from Egypt, Jordan, the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in an effort to calm the situation.
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The Palestinian Authority (PA)

The Palestinian Authority is a semi-autonomous entity which controls most of the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria. The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 by virtue of agreements signed as part of the Oslo process between Israel and the PLO. Formally, the Palestinian Authority also controls the Gaza Strip, but in reality it lost control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 when Hamas violently took control. Since Yasser Arafat’s death, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has headed the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Authority’s status under Yasser Arafat was severely damaged by the Palestinian terrorist campaign (the Al-Aqsa, or Second Intifada, 2000 until 2005). Israel asserted that it failed to function since it did not fight against terrorism and even played an active role in organizing and funding terrorist attacks against Israelis. Israel ended cooperation with it and most Palestinian Authority activities came to a standstill.

After the end of the Second Intifada, Arafat’s death and his succession by Abu Mazen, Israel changed its policy towards the Palestinian Authority and the relations between them improved. Today, the Palestinian Authority controls area A in Judea and Samaria and enjoys partial cooperation with Israel, mainly in terms of security and administration. In the territories under its control, the Palestinian Authority operates through its security services, in coordination with Israel, to maintain internal order and prevent terrorist attacks. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority supports “popular resistance” (popular terrorism), providing political and even practical backing to acts of violence taking place as part of this kind of terrorism.

Many countries around the world give the Palestinian Authority some sort of recognition as a political entity, although most of them do not recognize it as a sovereign state. Some of them formalized their diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority and promoted their representatives to the status of ambassadors. On November 29, 2012, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 67/19 by a large majority. The resolution granted the Palestinian Authority a status of an observer state, which is not a full member.