Status: 01/26/2023 7:34 p.m
Palestinian and Israeli security forces have been exchanging information since the 1990s – also to prevent attacks. The autonomy authority now wants to end this cooperation.
The Palestinian Authority has announced that it will end its coordinating cooperation with Israel on security issues. The Palestinian Authority cited unilateral steps and measures taken by Israel in the West Bank and the deaths of at least nine Palestinians in the city of Jenin as the reason for this decision. According to Palestinian sources, at least nine people were killed and several others injured during an Israeli military operation there.
It was Israel’s most momentous single raid on the West Bank in two decades. According to the Israeli army, it was an anti-terrorist operation “to arrest an Islamic Jihad terrorist group”. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said they were planning an attack in Israel.
The autonomy authority had already made announcements similar to the current one on previous occasions – however, they were not actually implemented. Most recently, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas terminated the cooperation in May 2020 in view of Israeli annexation plans. However, she went further behind the scenes.
Cooperation since the 1990s
Cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli security forces dates back to peace negotiations in the 1990s. Both sides exchange intelligence information to prevent terrorist attacks or to coordinate major operations in the zones controlled solely by the Palestinian Authority. It is also intended to prevent militant groups from gaining the upper hand in the area. The termination of contacts that has now been announced fuels the concern that attacks by militant groups can hardly be prevented in the future.
Israel also conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War. Negotiations on a permanent peace settlement have been idle since 2014.