Jenin Brigade: PA backs down from pledge to release fighters

The Jenin Brigade said yesterday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has backed down from releasing its fighters.

According to a statement, the Jenin Brigade said that its leadership agreed with the PA officials to release its fighters following the visit of PA President Mahamoud Abbas to the refugee camp.

However, the statement continued: “As a goodwill gesture, the PA handed over the fighters’ arms before the start of Abbas’ visit, but until now, the fighters have not been released.”

The Jenin Brigade, a wing of the Islamic Johan resistance group, said that its representatives along with representatives from Al-Aqsa Brigades – Fatah’s military wing – contacted the PA in order to release the fighters, “but they did not respond to our demands and continued to detain more fighters.”

The statement said they would start protesting against the PA and in support of “our fighters who are being kidnapped by the PA because they fought the occupation.”

In the evening, hundreds of people and scores of members of the Jenin Brigade were joined by resistance fighters from other groups during a march from the refugee camp of Jenin, calling for the PA to release fighters.

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