By Ali Sawafta and James Mackenzie
JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian Authority security forces have battled Islamist fighters in Jenin for days, as they wrestle to exert control of one of the historic centres of militancy in the West Bank ahead of a likely shakeout in Palestinian politics after the Gaza war.
Forces of the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, moved into Jenin in early December and have since clashed with fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
At least three people have been killed, including a senior Islamic Jihad commander and two civilians. The U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA has called for an investigation into what it called violations of human rights law by the Palestinian forces.
Heavily armed Palestinian security forces in armoured personnel carriers have set up checkpoints around the city and outside the adjacent refugee camp, where there have been repeated protests by residents against the operation.
Residents say the behaviour of the PA security forces resembles the way the Israeli army has traditionally acted in Jenin. The city and refugee camp have long been a centre of Palestinian militancy, where fighters have clashed with Israeli forces mounting large-scale raids that left trails of smashed roads and infrastructure.
"The PA does not have bulldozers like the (Israeli) army does. That is the only difference. The raid is the same, the blockade is the same," said Jenin resident Malek Jaber.
Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, spokesperson of the Palestinian security forces, said "outlaws" who had taken over Jenin camp had been arrested and would be brought to justice. The operation was aimed at imposing order and security and would continue until the objectives were achieved, he said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, who visited Jenin with Palestinian security leaders at the weekend, said the operation should restore security "on the way towards the creation of an independent state".
However, the operation has provoked strong opposition in Jenin and there have been violent clashes in other West Bank cities including Tubas in the Jordan Valley and Tulkarm in the north.
'PROVE ITS WORTH'
The timing of the operation is a sign that the PA has to "prove its worth" as it seeks to uphold its role in the West Bank while preparing for a possible future role in Gaza, said Hani al-Masri, a Palestinian political analyst in Ramallah.
The Palestinian Authority was set up three decades ago under the Oslo interim peace accords and given limited authority in the West Bank and Gaza, where Palestinians hope for an independent state. It was driven out of Gaza by Hamas in a 2007 civil war.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas-led fighters, Israel has vowed to drive Hamas out of Gaza. Israel says it also believes the PA should have no role in Gaza after the war, but most Western and Arab countries say Gaza must be run by Palestinians and they expect a role for the PA.
Michael Mihlshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and one of Israel's leading experts on Palestinian affairs, agreed that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was trying to show force now, ahead of an anticipated post-war settlement.
"There is very broad pressure on him to do something if he wants to be considered as a relevant player for the day after in Gaza," said Milshtein.
He noted that the operation in Jenin also follows a ceasefire in Lebanon, the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the election of Donald Trump in the United States, events that leave the region's future unsettled.
Israel accuses the PA of failing to control militant groups in the occupied West Bank. The PA says Israel, which has military control over the territory, deliberately undermines its authority.
PA officials say one of the aims of the operation is to prevent Hamas and Islamic Jihad from creating the kind of rule in the West Bank that opened the way for Israel to destroy Gaza.
Despite efforts at reconciliation, Fatah, the main faction behind the PA, has so far failed to agree with Hamas on how Gaza should be ruled after the fighting.
(James Mackenzie reported from Jerusalem; Editing by Howard Goller and Peter Graff)