The curious crackdown on Hamas by Palestinians – and what it means for Gaza’s future

The city of Jenin in the northern West Bank has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.

But in the past month, an unusual sight has greeted residents accustomed to violence on their streets.

Instead of Israel Defense Forces personnel sweeping the warren-like alleys, it is the black vehicles of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that loom over residents here.

Stationed at the entrance, roadblocks have been put in place and masked Palestinian security officers have entered the city on the hunt for terror groups such as Hamas.

The operation is part of “protect the homeland” – a crackdown on the Jenin Brigade, which consists of members from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades.

And the timing is auspicious.

Basem Naim, a Hamas official, told The Telegraph that the crackdown is an attempt to show Donald Trump that it can “confront its own people” as well as maintain control over the West Bank.

All eyes are on whether this will work, as the PA are being lined up to play a crucial role in the future of governing and rebuilding Gaza after the 15-month war.

Israel has been pleasantly surprised by the help in confronting Hamas and its affiliates, which have so often been left to their own devices.

However, the crackdown is already generating tension.

Shoot-outs between the security forces and Jenin Brigade have led to the closure of schools and a health centre run by UNRWA, which accused “Palestinian armed actors” of “forced entry and presence” at the facility.

Around a dozen people have been killed in the operations so far, including Shatha al-Sabbagh, 21, a female journalist who was shot in the head. Her family – along with Hamas – blamed the PA and accused one of their snipers of killing her.

Meanwhile, the PA described it as a “heinous crime committed by lawless individuals who fired indiscriminately, resulting in Shatha’s death and damage to a nearby house”.

Two civilians – Mahmoud Hajj al-Jalqamousi and his 14-year old son Qasam – were also killed, both of whom were on the roof of their house when they were hit by bullets.

Mr Naim said: “This approach is highly dangerous because the PA will not be able to break the will of the resistance in Jenin or elsewhere as the root causes of resistance still persist, foremost among them the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.”

The feud between dominant groups Hamas and Fatah goes back decades.

In 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary election, which caused a bloody battle between the two rivals.

The following year, Hamas effectively took control of Gaza after violently ousting Fatah. Since then, numerous attempts to unite the two Palestinian factions have failed.

Representatives from both sides met in Moscow on Feb 29 last year after Mohammad Shtayyeh, the then PA prime minister, resigned from his position two days earlier.

But the renewed push to form a united government has so far led nowhere, according to Yohanan Tzoreff, the former Arab adviser to the civil administration in the Gaza Strip.

“Mahmoud Abbas [the current PA president] doesn’t want any kind of cooperation with Hamas,” Mr Tzoreff said.

Despite an agreement between Fatah and Hamas to create a committee to rule post-war Gaza that was reached in Cairo in December 2024, the plan is yet to be approved and signed by Mr Abbas.

“Cairo is very upset with Mr Abbas, as far as I understand. And I don’t think he will approve the plan. He thinks that Hamas is weak and that now is the time to reshape the Palestinian arena,” Mr Tzoreff said.

Bassem Eid, a Palestinian human rights activist, is also sceptical about any unity between the Palestinian factions in the near future.

“There’s a saying that when the Arabs are meeting, they agree not to agree. We have so many rounds of negotiations between both sides and we never, ever reach any kind of positive results,” Mr Eid told The Telegraph.

In Jenin, many residents are afraid to talk publicly about the fighting as the PA and terror groups are known to violently silence dissent.

But how efficient is the PA’s operations and will it manage to regain control of the West Bank?

“I had some conversation with a former high ranking PA officer who said they are not going to give up. They’re going to continue until the end. I think that they will succeed if they continue like this,” Mr Tzoreff said.

Hamas accused the PA of “acting as Israel’s agent” in an interview with The Telegraph, which is a view widely held among Palestinians.

Mr Naim went on to say that this will “inevitably lead – sooner or later – to the undermining and eventual collapse of the Palestinian Authority”.

An Israeli official also told The Telegraph that Israel is “sceptical” about the timing of the crackdown but that any removal of terror groups in the West Bank is welcome.

They said: “It’s a peculiar timing and most likely has to do with the new US administration. They could have easily launched this crackdown a while ago but they didn’t. So it shows they are acting out of self interest here.”

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