The Palestinians will prevent the IDF from entering Area A of the West Bank which, according to the Oslo Accords, is exclusively administered by the Palestinian Authority, PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said on Saturday.
“We will prevent the Israeli occupation army from raiding Area A,” Shtayyeh said in an interview with the Palestinian daily Al-Quds. “We won’t do this through violence, but with our bodies. Israel invades the areas of the Palestinian Authority, and the signed agreements don’t allow these incursions. We will break this fait accompli.”
Since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, the IDF has been briefly entering Area A and other West Bank areas on a regular basis to arrest Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorism and other anti-Israeli activities.
Palestinians have long been criticizing the PA for failing to order its security forces to confront IDF soldiers, particularly in Area A.
In the interview, Shtayyeh did not say that the PA security forces would engage the IDF. His statement is seen as a call to Palestinian civilians to take to the streets and confront the IDF troops when they enter Area A.
Al-Quds will publish the full interview on Monday.
Two senior Fatah officials, meanwhile, called on Palestinians to pursue the “popular resistance” against Israel on the pretext that the current circumstances are not suitable for an “armed struggle.”
Mahmoud Aloul, deputy chairman of Fatah, and Jamal Muheissen, member of the Fatah Central Committee, were speaking on Saturday during the ruling faction’s “First Popular Resistance Conference” in al-Bireh, the twin city of Ramallah.
“Fatah and its sons are always at the forefront of resistance,” Aloul said. “As long as the occupation exists, there should be resistance. All people living under occupation have the right to launch all forms of resistance. Under the current circumstances, however, popular resistance is the most effective means to rally world support for the Palestinians.”
The Palestinian leadership, he said, has endorsed “popular resistance” as a means to exert pressure on Israel “to end its occupation.” Aloul called on the Fatah conference to endorse a plan to “activate the popular resistance so that the occupation would become more costly.”
Muheissen, for his part, said in a speech before the Fatah parley that all Palestinians should get involved in “popular resistance, which has become a Palestinian strategy.”
“People achieve freedom only through the rifle,” Muheissen added. “We need to take the initiative. We need to prevent settlers from traveling on the roads, but without using bullets. There are several ways to stop them from moving around freely on our occupied lands.”