Palestinians Free Fighter Besieged By PA Police in West Bank

Abu Shujaa was earlier placed under siege, not by the Israeli military, but by Palestinian Authority Police. 

Under protests from ordinary Palestinians, and demands by Resistance groups, Mohammed Jaber Abu Shujaa, a well-known Palestinian fighter, was freed from the Thabet Thabet hospital in Tulkarm. 

He later arrived in the refugee camp of Nur Shams amid celebration of the camp’s residents. 

Abu Shujaa was earlier placed under siege, not by the Israeli military, but by Palestinian Authority Police. 

The 26-year-old leader of the Tulkarm Brigades was the target of assassination by the Israeli army for years. The last attempt to kill him was last April. 

Then, the Israeli army invaded the Tulkarm refugee camp, carrying out one its the deadliest operations in years, which resulted in the killing of 14 Palestinians and wounding of many more. 

After rumors that Abu Shujaa was killed, the young man appeared at the mass funeral of his colleagues, brandishing his automatic rifle and delivering an emotive speech about the continuation of the resistance. 

Israel has been seeking to arrest him ever since, especially as the Tulkarm Brigades has emerged as one of the strongest of the fighting groups which are resisting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

Though PA police participate in intelligence gathering against Palestinian resisters, and have often arrested or even shot fighters, the tolerance of the Palestinian street to such behavior has grown limited since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza. 

When the news emerged that Abu Shujaa, and possibly others, were besieged by PA security forces in the hospital, Palestinian groups, including the military arm of the Fatah movement declared nafir, an Arabic word indicating popular mobilization. 

Masses of people descended towards the Thabet Thabet hospital, while major Palestinian groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad warned the PA against arresting the fighter on behalf of Israel. 

“What the (Palestinian) authority is doing serves the agenda of the Israeli enemy,” member of the Islamic Jihad political bureau, Ali Abu Shahin told Al-Jazeera. 

“The behavior of the PA in pursuing and arresting resisters has reached its most dangerous stages,” a statement by Hamas read.

In fact, Abu Shujaa was arrested by both Israel and the PA in the past, starting when he was only 17-year-old. 

He was arrested by the PA twice before, at the behest of Israel, which killed his younger brother, Mahmoud during its invasion of the camp. 

This time around, Abu Shujaa was not arrested due to the fact that hundreds of Palestinians stormed the hospital and freed him. The episode however raised more anger against Israel, which is now seen by most Palestinians as a tool in the hand of the Israeli occupation. 

What is the Tulkarm Brigade? 

The Tulkarm Brigade is a Palestinian armed organization established in March 2022.

It is based in the city of Tulkarm and the adjacent Nour Shams refugee camp. Though it includes members of multiple Palestinian factions, it is officially affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad. 

The group carried out many military operations against the Israeli occupation soldiers at military checkpoints, and confronted the incursions into the city and the camp.

The battalion took up its headquarters in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm. 

Members of the Tulkarm Brigade are often persecuted by the PA security services, and some were shot dead following the pursuits.

By September 2022, the group was believed to have about 40 equipped and trained fighters. That number has increased in following months and years, especially when the Brigades was joined by other groups and fighters, mostly from the northern West Bank.