Palestinian Power Fight Erupts in West Bank

Palestinian Authority security forces are battling militants from Hamas and its allies in the occupied West Bank, in a fight that has the potential to shape the long-running struggle for the leadership of the Palestinian cause.

- DOV LIEBER

The struggle between Palestinian factions gained new urgency as the Israeli military battered Hamas in Gaza in the past 15 months, leaving a leadership vacuum in the territory.

The PA has support in the West, while the militant groups are backed by Iran and deeply rooted in Palestinian society.

The Biden administration and others see the PA as the best alternative for running Gaza after the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted the idea, saying the PA is anti-Israel at its core.

The PA has governed major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank since the 1990s under agreements with Israel. Showing it can take on militants there could bolster its case to run Gaza.

The clashes pit PA security forces against militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an allied group. The fighting, which erupted in December, is the most fierce since Fatah, the Palestinian faction that largely controls the PA, engaged in a 2007 battle with Hamas in Gaza, analysts said. Fatah ultimately lost that fight, leading to Hamas's control of the enclave.

The fighting has occurred in the Jenin Refugee Camp, which long has been seen by Palestinians as a center of resistance against Israel and by Israel as a stronghold for militants conducting terrorist attacks. The fighting has led to at least 11 deaths and dozens of arrests, say Palestinian and Israeli officials.