Security Cooperation With Israel Roils PA

YERUSHALAYIM

Recent disclosures about security cooperation with Israel have sparked condemnations from within the Palestinian Authority, The Jerusalem Post reported.

PA security commander Majed Faraj’s statement earlier in the week that his department has prevented some 200 terrorist attacks against Israel since October 2015 did not sit well with a number of Palestinian factions who are opposed to such cooperation.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that it “proves these security forces’ role in serving the security of the ‘occupation’ and combating the Palestinian intifada.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine accused the PA of working toward “burying the intifada.”

It said that Faraj’s comments did not come as a surprise because the Palestinian Authority has always been conducting security coordination with Israel.”

Talal Abu Zarifeh, a senior official with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, denounced Faraj’s remarks as a “political scandal.”

About two weeks ago, PLO leaders called for a halt to security coordination with Israel, but the PA leadership gave no formal response.

Demands for a security cutoff arose after Israel froze tax revenues earmarked for the PA and imposed other sanctions in response to the Palestinian decision to join the International Criminal Court.

Seeking to head off a security breakdown, Israel announced that it would partially lift the ban on the sale of produce from Gaza to Israel. But the controversy continues.

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