It came as PA security forces – with Israeli support – engaged in a military campaign against Palestinian fighters in the Jenin camp which began on 9 December [Getty]
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has come under fire on Monday for the arrest of university students at the Palestine Polytechnic University in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron as its ongoing campaign against Palestinian fighters in the Jenin refugee camp continues.
PA security forces carried out a raid on the university’s student accommodation and detained several students, according to sources cited by the Shehab news agency on Monday.
Among those arrested were two students from Jenin, one from Nablus and two others who had filmed the incident, the report said, adding that some of the detainees were assaulted during the raid.
Senior Hamas member Mahmoud Mardawi condemned the arrests in a statement, saying the detention of students reflected “unpatriotic and irresponsible behaviour” aimed at dividing Palestinians and perpetuating oppression in the West Bank.
He urged Palestinian factions and leadership in the West Bank to take decisive action against the PA and its security forces.
He further condemned the PA’s broader campaign against resistance fighters in Jenin and its alleged involvement in sieging camp members and killing civilians.
It came as PA security forces – with Israeli support – engaged in a military campaign against Palestinian fighters in the Jenin camp which began on 9 December.
The Islamic Bloc, a student group active in West Bank universities, had criticised the PA’s security coordination with Israel in a statement on 24 December.Â
It called on the PA to “stop persecuting resistance fighters and activists, end incitement and internal mobilisation against them,” and warned that such actions would not be forgotten by history.
On Sunday, the governor of Hebron issued an order prohibiting public statements or actions that could “incite discord, disturb the public, or undermine public security”.
The order, posted on the governorate’s official Facebook page, warned that violators could face “legal consequences”, in a move described by many as an attempt to stifle dissent and suppress criticism of the PA’s campaign.
Jenin, in particular, has long been a focal point of Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, serving as a hub for armed groups.Â
The Western-backed PA exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, largely because it cooperates with Israel on security matters.
For the past 26 days, Palestinian fighters in Jenin have been locked in a rare open battle with the PA forces, who had arrested more than two dozen Palestinian fighters.
Snipers have also been stationed throughout the camp as part of the PA’s effort to establish control over the area, which is home to around 25,000 Palestinians originally displaced from their homes during the creation of Israel in 1948.
A Wall Street Journal report last week said that the PA, backed by the West, was attempting to demonstrate its ability to manage security in its limited areas of the West Bank as it aims to govern a postwar Gaza Strip.