Terrorists affiliated with the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad from Tulkarem in Samaria seized a jeep belonging to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority security services on Tuesday, amid increasing confrontations between rival Palestinian factions in the city’s refugee camp.
Tulkarem, a village east of Netanya that borders the Green Line, is located only eight miles from Israel’s densely populated coastal plain.
In video footage shared on social media, terrorists could be seen hijacking the vehicle and taking off with their weapons raised.
A vehicle belonging to the Palestinian Authority's security forces was hijacked by members of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. And on a side note,I've said it before, and I'll keep foot stomping the issue. Every passing month the West Bank looks more like Gaza. pic.twitter.com/vZKpu5PAeG
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) April 2, 2024
Tensions reached a boiling point over the weekend after P.A. forces attempted to detain Mohammed Jaber, said to be the commander of Islamic Jihad in Tulkarem’s Nur Shams camp. In response to the failed arrest raid, terrorists opened fire at the P.A. headquarters in Tulkarem.
Also on Tuesday, Mutasem al-Aref, a member of the Tulkarem Battalion terror organization, which is linked to Islamic Jihad, died of his wounds after being shot by P.A. security forces during a raid on Sunday.
In a rare statement critical of “Iranian interference,” the P.A.'s ruling Fatah Party said on Tuesday that it would not allow “the blood of our people to be exploited.” The faction vowed to “cut off the hand” of those seeking to harm “our security services or any of our national institutions.”
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group linked to the P.A.'s ruling Fatah Party, subsequently announced it would “protect” Palestinians “against disruption and attacks on the Nur Shams refugee camp.”
The P.A. has one of the largest per capita security forces in the world, trained and armed by the United States and other Western nations. Members of the PASF have a history of carrying out attacks. Last year, Fatah boasted that most of its “martyrs” had served in the PASF.
Nearly 80 members of the PASF have been implicated in terrorism against Israelis in the past three years alone, according to research published by the Regavim Movement think tank on March 15.
Since the beginning of the war with Hamas on Oct. 7, the Israel Defense Forces has carried out intensive ground operations in Tulkarem, arresting hundreds of suspects and dismantling terrorist infrastructure, including explosives buried under roads, intended to kill IDF soldiers.
Troops also discovered several tunnel shafts in Nur Shams, though it was unclear if they led to attack tunnels, according to media reports.
In late December, IDF forces destroyed an explosives lab in the camp. Soldiers also confiscated over 30 weapons, improvised rockets and other armaments in the building where the lab was located.
An IDF soldier was shot and seriously wounded by Palestinian gunfire in Tulkarem during a counterterror raid in January. In response, troops ordered a drone strike on the gunmen, killing several terrorists.
