Palestinian Authority suspends security coordination with Israel

Israeli officials say that the decision will likely be reversed at a later date because of the PAs wish to remove Islamic Jihad militants from West Bank

Einav Halabi, Yoav Zitun, Itamar Eichner|
The Palestinian Authority decided on Thursday to suspend security coordination with Israel after 10 militants died in a battle with security forces in Jenin.
  • Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter

  • The decision was made following an emergency meeting of the PA leadership and was announced by Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian minister of information.
    2 View gallery
    בנימין נתניהו אבו מאזן נשיא פלסטיני
    בנימין נתניהו אבו מאזן נשיא פלסטיני
    Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu
    (Photo: EPA, Ohad Tzoigenberg)
    Soon after the Palestinian announcement, Barbara Leaf, a top U.S. State Department official for the Middle East said the United States was seeking information from Israel and was urging de-escalation. She also called the Palestinian decision a wrong one.
    Abu Rudeineh said Abbas had decided to cut security coordination in "light of the repeated aggression against our people, and the undermining of signed agreements," referring to commitments from the Oslo peace process in the 1990s. He also said that the Palestinians planned to file complaints with the U.N. Security Council, International Criminal Court, and other international bodies.
    2 View gallery
    ועידת הליגה הערבית באלג'יר
    ועידת הליגה הערבית באלג'יר
    Mahmoud Abbas
    (Photo: AFP)
    Israeli officials said they had not received official notice from the PA about any change to the coordination between the sides.
    Some security analysts, however, believe that coordination will be restored once again following pressure from Jordan and the U.S. in order to prevent further bloodshed and because Abbas was interested in removing the Islamic Jihad militants from the West Bank.
    Comments
    The commenter agrees to the privacy policy of Ynet News and agrees not to submit comments that violate the terms of use, including incitement, libel and expressions that exceed the accepted norms of freedom of speech.
    ""