Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported Monday morning that. for the first time since the beginning of the second Intifada in late September 2000, army records indicate that there are no more “wanted” Palestinians in the northern part of the West Bank, and only a few in the southern part.According to the report, this is the outcome of security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
The report indicated that northern West Bank districts of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem were the home of most of the “cells” that caused most of the fatalities among Israel soldiers and settlers during the second Intifada.
It added that a cell that belongs to Hamas in Nablus was on top of the list followed by cells of the Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Brigades of the Fatah movement.
The army said that assassinations carried by the army and the Israeli Shabak against senior fighters in the West Bank, and the ongoing arrests conducted by the Israeli army and the Palestinian Security forces of Mahmoud Abbas, managed to ensure the arrest of nearly all wanted fighters.
It also stated that the last suicide bombing was carried out by the Islamic Jihad in Tel Aviv in 2006.
Haaretz reported that the Palestinian security forces of President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank started, in 2007, a campaign targeting resistance groups in the West Bank, and arrested hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.
Israel also “pardoned” hundreds of fighters of Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas, after they vowed to lay down their arms. The ‘pardoned’ fighters, according to the report, were not involved in the death of Israeli soldiers or settlers.
They were pardoned in order to boost the power of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank while the Israeli army and the Palestinian security forces arrested hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members and fighters in addition to members of other resistance groups.
Last month, the Palestinian Security Forces arrested 120 Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters in the West Bank.
There are hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members currently imprisoned by the Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority shut down and took over several charity organizations run by Hamas. But the Hamas movement claims that thousands are imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority.
Haaretz also said the Palestinian Authority is holding hundreds of fighters for extended periods without charges or trial, an issue that might lead to a new wave of what it called “terror” should a new political-security crisis take place.
