Israeli counterterror raids signal shift in Palestinian security cooperation, analysts say
As Israeli forces continue one of their most widespread counterterror operations in years, analysts said the raids represent a paradigm shift for Israel-Palestinian security cooperation.
An Israeli soldier in Jenin during a counterterror raid on Aug. 28, 2024. Photo by TPS-IL
Experts explained to The Press Service of Israel that “Operation Summer Camp,” aimed at dismantling terror infrastructure in northern Samaria and the Jordan Valley is significant because it is taking place in areas that the Israel Defence Forces disengaged from in 2005.
“Because Hamas is being pushed back in Gaza and it’s trying to carry out attacks in Judea and Samaria, and Israel wants to eliminate this threat before it even takes shape,” Lt.-Col. (res.) Yaron Bouskila, CEO of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, told TPS-IL.
“Iran is funneling weapons and ammunition through the Jordanian border to Samaria. The whole area is now flooded with weapons, so we are fighting these terrorist organizations while their supply lines remain open,” Bouskila, a former operations officer in the Judea and Samaria division and commander of special operations in the region, highlighted the operation’s critical nature.
The operation involves a combination of precision airstrikes and ground operations, including the deployment of special forces and engineering units. The operation focuses on major cities under the Palestinian Authority that turned into terror bases.
“In Tulkarem, there are terror groups organizing, and in Jenin, there are ongoing attempts to launch rockets at Israel. The Far’a refugee camp in the Jordan Valley has turned into a base for exporting terrorism to central Israel,” Bouskila stressed.
During the IDF raid on a mosque in Far’a on the first day, a series of bombs ready for use was exposed, each containing several kilograms of explosive material.
Fatah’s ‘Martyrdom-Seeking’ Unit
On the other side of Samaria, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which is aligned with President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah party, unveiled a new “martyrdom-seeking” unit in April. A video released by the terror group showed masked gunmen and featured imagery glorifying suicide attacks.
According to Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, this group is one central objective of the IDF operation.
These terror cells didn’t emerge spontaneously; they were encouraged from higher levels, as PMW research points out. A month ago, Qadura Fares, head of the PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs, called for an intifada, while Mahmoud Al-Habbash, an advisor to Mahmoud Abbas, further incited violence, urging a united Islamic effort to “take back Jerusalem by all means and ways.”
“The growing coordination between Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas, particularly in Nablus and Tulkarem, signals that PA/Fatah leaders are openly promoting this terror connection. The Israeli army’s incursion into these cities is an essential act of self-defense to dismantle terror infrastructures at their source and prevent attacks on Israeli soil,” Marcus told TPS-IL.
Moreover, in a recent study published by Regavim, a non-governmental organization that monitors illegal Palestinian construction and land theft, alarming details have emerged about the involvement of Palestinian Authority security forces in terrorist activities.
The report revealed a troubling pattern of members of of the Palestinian Security Services implicated in numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, a trend it said has persisted
The study highlights a “deepening involvement” of PA security personnel in terrorist activities, a trend that has persisted and even escalated in recent years.
According to the report, 46 members of the Palestinian Security Services carried out attacks between 2020-2024.
“Members of these forces have not only participated in terrorist attacks but have been celebrated as martyrs by the Palestinian leadership,” the report stated.
Naomi Kahn, director of Regavim’s international division, explained to TPS-IL, “One of the primary reasons for the creation of the Palestinian Authority — and the only reason an armed, trained fighting force was created — was to fight terrorism, to protect the lives of Israelis. Instead, the PA has encouraged its officers to carry out acts of terrorism. The time has come to face the hard truth about the Palestinian Authority, and to abandon the failed Oslo paradigm—before more lives are lost.”
Bouskila noted that it remains unclear how long the military’s activities will last or how effective they will be.
“The PA is an authorized terrorist organization. To rely on them is a flawed concept; they have no desire or interest in doing the right thing,” he said.
