[News] PA forces detained 40 percent of 'suspected terrorists' in West Bank in past months

[Anti-Imperialist News]

*Report: PA forces detained 40 percent of 'suspected terrorists' in West 
Bank in past months *

May 4, 2016 *
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*http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771400

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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Palestinian security forces have carried out 40 
percent of detentions of “suspected terrorists” in the occupied West 
Bank in past months, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

Haaretz said that the data was presented to Israeli government officials 
by the Israeli army’s central command “recently.”

An Israeli army spokesperson said that the central command was not 
directly in possession of such numbers, however adding that she could 
neither confirm nor deny the veracity of Haaretz's report.

Palestinian police did not immediately respond to a request for comment 
on the matter.

The Fatah-dominated PA and Israeli forces have worked in coordination 
since the Oslo Accords in 1993, which planned for a gradual power 
transfer of the occupied West Bank from Israeli forces to the PA over 
the course of five years.

More 20 years on, however, any transfer of power has yet to take place. 
Numerous Palestinian groups have repeatedly accused the PA of aligning 
with Israel's goals in the occupied West Bank, and recently of 
preventing a sustained uprising against Israel.

Although the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation 
Organization have repeatedly threatened to put an end to the security 
coordination with Israel over the years, Wednesday’s report did not 
appear to grossly contradict statements by Palestinian officials in 
recent months.

In January, PA intelligence chief Majed Faraj caused an uproar after he 
said in an interview with US-based magazine Defense News that PA forces 
had aborted 200 planned attacks against Israeli targets since October, 
in addition to detaining around 100 Palestinians.

“They [the PA] disregard the national consensus that rejects all 
relations between PA and the Israeli occupation,” Hamas, Islamic Jihad, 
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in a 
statement at the time, rejecting attempts by the PA to "gain Israeli 
endorsement” through security cooperation.

In March, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his commitment 
to the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination with Israel in an 
interview broadcast by the Israeli Channel 2, arguing that it was a 
major factor in curbing Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets.

The Hamas movement in April charged the Palestinian Authority of 
adopting a "revolving door policy" that funnels Palestinians from PA 
jails into Israeli prisons as part of “escalating security 
collaboration” with Israeli authorities.

Wednesday’s report comes amid recent pushes by the Palestinian Authority 
to convince Israel to limit its military incursions into Area A -- the 
18 percent of the occupied West Bank which are officially under full 
Palestinian civil and security jurisdiction.

However, Israeli forces have regularly carried out incursions in these 
areas since the Second Intifada, in a breach of the Oslo Accords.

-- 
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