The Palestinian Authority's security forces are becoming increasingly successful in their operations in the West Bank, according to a senior Israeli security source. Indeed he said their performance has so improved that, contrary to the fears of many senior Israeli officials, an Israeli pullout from the West Bank would not automatically result in Hamas being able to take over the area shortly thereafter.
But according to the same source, one area in which the PA security forces have not been sufficiently effective is in combating what he termed "the terrorist infrastructure" in the West Bank.
"They hesitate to outlaw Hamas. They arrest Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad militants, but a short while later they release them," he said. "There is no follow-through in the way they deal with those they arrest: They are not tried, they are not jailed. They are still not dealing with the root of the problem, not even in Jenin, where a large-scale PA security operation is taking place."
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The source said that the Palestinians have significantly improved their cooperation with Israel, and especially in matters pertaining to an agreement under which Israel offered immunity to wanted militants who surrendered their arms to the PA. A total of 438 Palestinian militants have so far joined the immunity scheme, he noted.
In addition to surrendering their arms to the PA, the wanted militants are required to spend a set period of time in the confines of the PA security forces' compounds. They must also sign a contract disavowing terrorist activities.
The source noted that the PA has outlawed 300 charity organizations, most of them affiliated with Hamas, and its security forces have stepped up their monitoring of imams in West Bank mosques. In addition, PA forces in Jenin recently arrested 37 suspected terrorists, including two Palestinian policemen, and 180 suspected criminals.
"The various security organs are coordinating their activities with each other more than ever before," he said. "Moreover, in all West Bank cities, there has been a dramatic improvement in law and order and a drop in crime."
"In recent years," he continued, "the thing that bothered Palestinian civilians in the West Bank the most was the chaos, with regard to their own and their family's security: Would someone harass their daughter on her way home, or would someone accidentally shoot at their family, for example. Now, West Bank residents are concerned about the economic situation and their [lack of] freedom of movement in the territories."
He also noted that since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, the PA security forces have stepped up their operations in Areas C and B - parts of the West Bank where the Oslo Accords assigned security responsibility to the Israel Defense Forces. Even though some members of the PA security forces are still involved in terrorism, he added, "this is not a trend, and the commanders of the PA forces seek intelligence from us about such involvement."
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