The Daily Populous Sunday January 12nd, 2025 evening edition
Authored by jpost.com and submitted by DroneMaster2000

Hamas and the Palestinian Authority took jabs at each other in official statements, with Hamas accusing the PA of trying to kill its members and the PA stressing it would not allow the terror group to “reproduce its activities in the West Bank.”

Hamas leader Abdul Rahman Shadid condemned the PA for attempting to “assassinate” members of the terror group in a statement on its official Telegram channel.

Shadid claimed, “What happened in Tulkarm Governorate, where the PA’s security forces directly shot at a resistance vehicle in an attempt to kill them for the second time in a few days, confirms that officials in the PA issued instructions to liquidate and kill resistance fighters in the West Bank.”

The first alleged attempt to kill the Hamas terrorists was reported by Al Jazeera earlier in the week, which said that PA forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying three men near Tulkarm, leaving one in critical condition. Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Ribhi Shalabi, who was killed in clashes with Palestinian Authority forces, in Jenin camp in the West Bank, December 10, 2024. (credit: RANEEN SAWAFTA/REUTERS)

Shadid added that the PA leadership and security apparatus have grown “increasingly willing to shed Palestinian blood, as evidenced by the events in [the] Jenin refugee camp over the past 38 days, during which nine Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed.”

On Friday, Hamas accused the PA of “shedding Palestinian blood” and claimed it was responsible for the deaths of 19 Palestinian “martyrs” since the initiation of the “Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa,” the Hamas name for the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Fatah: Hamas not welcome in West Bank

Fatah, the governing party of the PA, said it “will not allow Hamas, which has jeopardized the interests and resources of the Palestinian people in favor of Iran and caused the destruction of Gaza, to reproduce its activities in the West Bank.”

Fatah said Hamas “provided free pretexts” for Israel to “carry out the largest campaign of extermination against our people in Gaza since October 7, 2023.”

Fatah also condemned Hamas’s use of Gazan civilians “as human shields instead of protecting them and their homes.”

It added that Hamas was responsible for the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza, “characterized by the spread of hunger, poverty, and deprivation of basic humanitarian needs.” Stay updated with the latest news! Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter Subscribe Now

“Hamas should not be allowed to reproduce such reckless actions in the West Bank,” it continued.

Fatah also warned of “Iran’s expansionist ambitions to turn Palestine into an area of influence, even at the cost of the blood of Palestinian children.”

This comes amid the PA’s ongoing security crackdown in Jenin, which, according to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, has included “persecution of resistance fighters.”

The PIJ said, “The actions of the PA security forces constitute a national and moral crime and a violation of the sanctity of Palestinian blood. This necessitates a broad national movement to put an end to the killings, displacement, and destruction occurring in the West Bank.”

aWhiteWildLion on January 12nd, 2025 at 14:52 UTC »

Amazing, I wish both sides good luck.

TheNthMan on January 12nd, 2025 at 13:22 UTC »

In 2007, when Hamas won the elections in the Gaza Strip, they essentially had a mini civil war which resulted in the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Even though there was a reconciliation agreement in 2011, and again in 2014, they never really got anywhere with that. Especially after Shin Bet exposed an alleged plot of Hamas in 2014 to depose the PLA in the West Bank by inciting a third intifada. The third intifada would overwhelm the PLA security forces and allow Hamas cells to take over.

So as far ad we know, it is really an ongoing unresolved conflict. It is not “OK”. But not many people have much influence over Hamas. Israel is probably more than happy for the PLA to further weaken Hamas.

MurkyLurker99 on January 12nd, 2025 at 13:20 UTC »

It would be helpful if the Palestinians paused for a minute and engaged in a bit of second-order thinking.