Report: Israel Will Return West Bank Camps to Palestinian Authority Control

SadaNews - The international channel i24NEWS broadcasting from Israel reported this Wednesday evening that Tel Aviv is considering an exceptional step involving the return of control over the refugee camps in northern West Bank to the security forces of the Palestinian Authority.

According to the channel in its broadcast in Hebrew, Arabic, and French, this step has been studied as part of the preparations to end the "Iron Wall" operation launched by the Israeli army, which focuses on targeting armed cells and arresting wanted individuals in refugee camps such as Nur Shams and Jenin.

It indicated that the Israeli army leadership in the West Bank is currently formulating several alternatives regarding the deployment of Israeli forces after completing the operation, with one of the central options being a gradual return of the Palestinian Authority forces to the area.

It was noted that the Nur Shams camp is expected to serve as an initial trial, through which the capacity of the Palestinian security apparatus to impose order and internal control will be tested.

The Israeli army has set a series of conditions to move forward with this step, the most prominent of which is maintaining the operational freedom of Israeli security forces in the area, meaning the possibility of carrying out arrests and specific interception operations even after transferring internal security control to the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli security establishment states that any step of this kind will be evaluated based on field results.

It pointed out that the United States is closely monitoring the situation and is secretly seeking to enhance the status of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, aware that the governmental vacuum in the refugee camps could create a fertile environment for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to regain power. The channel added.

It was also indicated that this step is in its initial experimental phases, but according to Israeli security sources, if the experiment proves its worth, consideration will be given to expanding it to include additional camps in northern and central West Bank.