[ The Israeli armys bulldozers and airstrikes not only leveled
Jenin refugee camp, but paved the way for the PA to return to the camp
and reassert its influence. This is the unofficial second phase of the
Jenin operation.]
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THE JENIN OPERATION DIDN’T END. PHASE TWO HAS BEGUN.  
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Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau
July 10, 2023
Mondoweiss
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_ The Israeli army's bulldozers and airstrikes not only leveled Jenin
refugee camp, but paved the way for the PA to return to the camp and
reassert its influence. This is the unofficial second phase of the
Jenin operation. _

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh chairs a meeting of the
ministerial committee on the reconstruction of Jenin refugee camp, in
the West Bank city of Ramallah on July 6, 2023. , Shadi Hatem/APA

 

As Israel’s 48-hour onslaught on the Jenin refugee camp last week
entered its denouement, former Israeli Brigadier General Tamir Hayman
discussed the operation’s objectives during an INSS podcast
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two primary aims: the restoration of the Israeli army’s
“operational freedom” — the ability of the army to enter any
part of the West Bank unchallenged and unmolested by resistance —
and, most notably, to facilitate the conditions for the return of the
Palestinian Authority to the camp.

Hayman couched his explanation in the language of desiring to
ameliorate the “lack of efficiency” of the PA in containing “the
cycle of revenge” perpetuated by the Palestinian resistance, meaning
that the army would have to go in and undercut the influence of the
resistance groups by taking out their so-called infrastructure (their
ability to manufacture IEDs and other means of resistance). But he
leaves much unsaid in this formulation — the Palestinian resistance
remains alive and well in the camp precisely because the operation did
not aim to eradicate
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it but merely removed a few of its guns and eliminated a handful of
labs. In other words, it’s unclear how this narrow and much-touted
“achievement” would facilitate the return of PA influence.

The answer lies not in the tactical military objectives of the
operation but in its broader political goals — to engage in a
theatrical display of wreaking havoc and destruction in the camp,
unrelated to operational necessity in the field. The army’s D-9
bulldozers tore up streets and demolished homes not only to satisfy
the calls of the bloodthirsty Israeli right for retribution, but to
create the opportunity for the PA to roll in with reconstruction aid.
Whether this was an intentional part of the army’s operation is
irrelevant — in reality, this is its Phase Two and the inauguration
of Israel’s soft counterinsurgency effort.

This is also nothing new. After its destruction in 2002, Jenin refugee
camp’s “urban redesign
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place amidst a concerted colonial counterinsurgency campaign. It
brought back the PA security forces into the camp to police the
resistance, while foreign money streamed in as part of what Linda
Tabar calls “bureaucratic humanitarian aid,” turning Jenin into
Tony Blair’s “model economic and security zone.” This is the
same strategy that the INSS regards
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of “soft power,” which in conjunction with military power
(alternating between “the carrot and the stick”) is how the
Israeli army’s Central Command has strived to maintain the “status
quo” since 1967 — creeping colonization coupled with colonial
pacification. It sees the continued existence of the PA as crucial to
maintaining that status quo.

And the attempts at pacification are already starting. The UAE and
Algeria have both pledged
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$15 million and $30 million, respectively, for the reconstruction of
Jenin. All of it will be funneled through the PA.

After a PA delegation to the funeral of Jenin’s 12 martyrs was
kicked out of the camp
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by mourners incensed at PA inaction, a ministerial committee
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to lead the reconstruction effort. Another Fatah delegation composed
of members of its central committee returned on Saturday, July 8, to
meet with members of the Jenin Brigade, the umbrella resistance
organization comprised of resistance fighters from many factional
backgrounds, including the Islamic Jihad’s Saraya al-Quds, Hamas’s
Qassam Brigades, and Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. One of the
members was seen telling
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the delegation that “our rifles are not politicized in anyone’s
favor,” and that they are “pointed towards Jerusalem,” which was
met with applause from the Fatah delegation. The day after that, yet
another delegation made up of PA ministers also arrived and made the
rounds. The PA presence started to be normalized.

In the background to all this, Israel’s national security cabinet
met and decided to vote on Netanyahu’s proposal
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to “act to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority,”
which included economic measures to prop it up. The only ones opposed
to this proposal were Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich (declaring
“there will be no economic relief to the Palestinians”), whose
absolutist positions will, according to the mainstream Israeli
military-security establishment, lead to a “security disaster” for
Israel.

The danger posed by the inauguration of the unofficial second phase of
the Jenin operation is that it might serve as a precursor to
de-escalating the resistance. What’s harder is that the resistance
groups can hardly turn down aid to rebuild the camp — and nor should
they — but as the aid flows in, the challenge to the resistance
groups will no longer only be airstrikes and assassination missions,
but a trojan horse waving a white flag and tempting them to give up
their weapons in exchange for prosperity. Whether the resistance
accedes to these pressures and goes the route of the Lions’ Den
(many of whose members gave up their weapons to the PA in exchange for
alleged amnesty) is uncertain. But if the Jenin Brigade remains
staunch in upholding its resistance line, Israel’s onslaught will
continue apace, alternating as it always has between military power
and soft counterinsurgency.

Depending on whether the PA decides to crack down on the resistance or
let it continue to exist in parallel to the PA, the resistance will
either continue to maintain a presence in Jenin or be faced with the
harrowing reality of being besieged from within and without. The
resistance will have to strike a delicate balance between continuing
to resist the Zionist colonial project and refraining from having to
confront the PA head-on, which would risk a devolution into
intra-Palestinian conflict.

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* Jenin Invasion; Palestinian Authority; Armed Resistance;
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