PA escalates its campaign against Palestinian resistance in West Bank

As part of its crackdown on Palestinian resistance, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has escalated its crackdown campaign against Islamic Jihad activists in the occupied West Bank, Islamic Jihad said on Sunday.

“The PA continues its fierce campaign against our members and leaders across the occupied West Bank through chasing, summoning and detaining them,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

It stated that the PA detained Omar Ghawanmeh, 17, Majd Nakhleh, 17, and Mustafa Zaid, 18, from Al Jalazon refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to the statement, all of the three youths are Islamic Jihad activists.

The statement stated that Omar Ghawanmeh is the son of the former prisoner Mahmoud Ghawanmeh, who spent nine and a half years inside Israeli jails.

In the heart of the city of Jenin, a joint force from the different PA security services chased Palestinian fighters on Sunday afternoon and detained one of them.

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The Committee for the Families of Political Prisoners and Detainees in the West Bank documented a sharp rise in the PA’s violations against former prisoners and fighters during the last month.

By the end of 2022, there had been 20 political prisoners inside the PA jails, including some who have spent more than 10 years in prison.

Since the start of 2023, the PA escalated its crackdown on the Palestinian resistance fighters as it detained tens of them across the occupied West Bank, but there is no detailed report about their numbers and conditions.

However, the family of Musab Shtayyeh, who has been in the PA prisons for more than three months, said that he has been suffering from harsh detention conditions despite his ailing health.

The family said that the PA rejected its request to have Iftar only one time during the holy month of Ramadan with him inside prison.