RSS
Palestinian Analyst: PA Security Forces Will Join Upcoming Terror Campaigns as They Have in the Past
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visiting the West Bank city of Jenin. Photo: Reuters/Mohamad Torokman
The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s security services, which are funded and trained by the US, have played an active role in terrorism in the past.
Moreover, their current role in terror is “an important indication about the possibility that this group will participate [in the fighting] if a confrontation will develop in the West Bank.”
This assessment, reinforcing Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s repeated recent warnings, comes from Palestinian analyst Akram Al-Natsheh. He recognizes that just as the PA Security Forces were very active in terror during the five-year-long terror-intifada [2000-2005], and recently during the Nablus terror wave [2022-2023], they will continue to perpetrate terror in West Bank fighting in the future:
The participation of former or present Security [Forces] members [in operations] is no longer unusual … Recently, we have seen the participation of security members in operations … They provide an important indication about the possibility that this group will participate [in the fighting] if a confrontation will develop in the West Bank, like in the Al-Aqsa Intifada [i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered] or like what we saw with armed groups such as the Lion’s Den in Nablus [i.e., independent terror cell], which relied on the Palestinian Security Forces members who resigned from their positions.” [emphasis added]
[Al Jazeera website, Palestinian publicist and political commentator Akram Al-Natsheh, March 22, 2024]
Fatah, which rules the PA, loves to boast about how many of its members are involved in terror. In January, an official Fatah spokesman said:
Today we are speaking about nearly 8,000 prisoners inside the occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] prisons. More than half of the prisoners’ movement is from Fatah, and the remaining less than half are from the rest of the factions together.
This shows that Fatah still adheres to the benefit of the struggle, regardless of what will be. It has carried the flag of armed struggle, it carried the flag of popular resistance in the popular [first] Stone Intifada [i.e., Palestinian terror wave, approximately 200 Israelis murdered, 1987-1993], it returned to armed resistance in the Al-Aqsa Intifada, and today it is in favor of popular resistance [i.e., Palestinian term, includes use of violence and terror], and these strategies change and replace each other at every stage, but Fatah has not abandoned any one of its options. [emphasis added]
[Official Fatah Spokesman Abd Al-Fattah Doleh, Falestinona, YouTube channel, Jan. 1, 2024]
PMW, in its report Terrorists in Uniform, has documented this active role in terror by the PA. For example, Palestinian statistics themselves demonstrate that Fatah and the PA Security Forces have been playing a lead role in the recent terror wave against Israelis:
Director of Palestinian Center for Strategic Studies Muhammad Al-Masri: “More than roughly 63-65% of the number of Martyrs in the West Bank, in the daily confrontations, are members of the Fatah Movement.
And most of them are members of the [PA] Security Forces or their sons … The ones who are being pursued in the streets, arrested, and imprisoned are the Palestinian Security Forces officers.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, June 14, 2023]
Fatah has broadcasted similar statistics on its TV channel:
Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “More than two thirds of the Martyrs in the West Bank over [the last] year-and-a-half belong to the Fatah Movement and the PA … More than 355 of our Palestinian people’s prisoners inside the prisons are from the Palestinian [PA] Security Forces–in other words, the PA’s soldiers.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, May 27, 2023]
The PA is controlled by Fatah and by its own admission is synonymous with terror in the West Bank. Nevertheless, the US, UK, and many others in the West believe that the PA and its Security Forces are some sort of moderate element that work to prevent terror and thus should be the ones to receive control over the Gaza Strip on “the day after” the war.
Such beliefs could not be more mistaken. The PA and Fatah are deeply involved in terror and brag about it. Such an organization has no place taking the reins of power in Gaza.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post Palestinian Analyst: PA Security Forces Will Join Upcoming Terror Campaigns as They Have in the Past first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded

FILE PHOTO: A worker at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel sits at the arrivals terminal as all flights from and to the airport are indicated cancel, following an Israeli attack on Iran. June 13, 2025 Photo: REUTERS/Tomer Appelbaum
Woken by air raid sirens, hurrying to bomb shelters, scouring travel sites for escape routes — thousands of tourists in Israel have found their holiday plans upended by the country’s conflict with Iran.
Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday, shutting down the national airspace and telling people to remain where they were as the arch Middle East foes traded deadly blows.
The violence has left around 40,000 tourists blocked in Israel, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Airlines are cancelling flights until further notice, leaving travelers to decide whether to wait it out or seek costly detours through neighboring countries.
Justin Joyner, from California, is on holiday in Jerusalem with his father John, who lives in Nevada, and his son. They had expected some possible disruption, with Israel locked in a months-long conflict against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
But, like most locals, they did not foresee a whole new war.
“We didn’t expect Israel to attack Iran. That is a completely different level of escalation,” Joyner said from his hotel in East Jerusalem, which, for the past two nights, has seen Iranian ballistic missiles flash overhead like a rain of meteorites.
“It’s unsettling to feel the shockwaves of intercepted missiles above you, and to take your family down to a bomb shelter. That’s just something we don’t think about in America,” he said.
Dr. Greer Glazer, who lives in Cleveland and was in Jerusalem for a nursing training program, faces a race down 10 flights of stairs in her hotel to reach the shelter when sirens sound — as they have done regularly since Friday night.
“I feel safe,” she said, “but waking from a dead sleep and running to the safe room, that’s been the hardest. My family is scared to death … They think it’s 24/7 destruction, but it’s not like that.”
THE JORDAN ROUTE
Glazer had been due to return home on June 29, but is looking to bring forward her departure. The easiest exit route is via land crossings into neighboring Jordan and then a flight out of Amman airport which has been operating in daylight hours.
Israeli media reported that the transgender US influencer Caitlyn Jenner, who only flew into Israel on Thursday for Tel Aviv’s since-canceled Gay Pride Parade, had left through Jordan.
Hours earlier, she had been photographed drinking a glass of red wine in a bomb shelter. “What an incredible way it has been to celebrate Shabbat,” she wrote on X.
Not everyone is rushing to leave.
Karen Tuhrim is visiting from London to see her daughter, who lives in Tel Aviv. “Within two days of being here, Israel attacked Iran. So now I’m stuck,” she said.
Unlike Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has taken direct hits from the Iranian missiles and Tuhrim has had to dip in and out of her hotel’s shelter. But she said she felt safe and was happy to be near her daughter.
“For me, personally, at the moment, I feel better being here than in London, watching it all on the news, knowing my daughter is here. So, for now, we’re good.”
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has set up a round-the-clock virtual help desk in English and Hebrew for stranded travelers.
But for anyone stuck here, all the museums are closed until further notice, entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem is barred to non-residents and many shops remain shuttered.
“The streets and shops are empty,” said Jerusalem resident Anwar Abu Lafi, who saw no quick end to the gloom.
“People are yearning for a break, to find something good in this existing darkness. We are deluding ourselves into thinking that the future will be better,” he said.
The post Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters

Illustrative: A Magen David Adom ambulance. Photo: David King via Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel was struck by an Iranian missile, tragically claiming the lives of four women from the same family, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 13 and 20.
The missile caused severe damage, nearly collapsing the three- to four-story building where they lived.
Emergency services responded quickly, evacuating 14 injured individuals and providing care for eight others suffering from shock at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
Despite the devastation, the community and first responders showed remarkable resilience and solidarity, working tirelessly to assist those affected.
Eli Bin, director general of Magen David Adom, described the scene as one of severe destruction but praised the swift and professional response of rescue teams. Paramedic Adnan Abu Rumi, one of the first on site, emphasized the dedication of emergency personnel in managing the crisis.
Residents like Hamudi, who was injured but survived, shared heartfelt accounts of the sudden impact, underscoring the strength of families and neighbors coming together in difficult times.
The post 4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Despite evidence that the conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russia’s Vladimir Putin could help.
In a social media post, Trump said there were many unspecified meetings about the issue happening and encouraged the two countries to make a deal. And in an interview with ABC News, he said he was open to Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, serving as a mediator.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place.”
Trump did not offer any details about the meetings or evidence of progress toward peace. His assertion contradicted comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Saturday that Israel’s campaign against Iran would intensify.
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump and the White House were working to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Trump told ABC News that Iran wanted to make a deal and indicated something like the Israel strikes would accelerate that. “Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” Trump said, according to ABC reporter Rachel Scott. “May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually.”
The United States has engaged in talks with Iran about its nuclear program and Trump has told reporters previously that the talks were going well. But another round of discussions scheduled for Sunday in Oman was canceled after the Israeli and Iranian strikes.
Trump said he and Putin had discussed the situation in the Middle East on Saturday in a call that focused more on that conflict than the Russian war in Ukraine.
“He is ready. He called me about it,” Trump said about Putin serving as a mediator, according to Scott. “We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”
Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker and has drawn criticism from his political base for not being able to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict, cited other disputes that he took responsibility for solving, including between India and Pakistan, and lamented not receiving more praise for doing so.
“I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.
The post Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login