The PA says it won't allow an intifada against Israel in the West Bank

Amid Hamas, Islamic Jihad calls for 3rd Palestinian uprising, PA security sources say the West Bank won't be scene of chaos.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian throws a tire in West Bank 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma)
Palestinian throws a tire in West Bank 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma)
The Palestinian Authority won’t allow an intifada against Israel in the West Bank, Palestinian security sources in Ramallah said on Sunday.
The sources told the London- based Asharq Alawsat newspaper that the West Bank “won’t be the scene of chaos to serve any private agendas.”
The sources emphasized that despite calls by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, “there is no orientation toward a new intifada in the West Bank.”
The paper said that the PA and Fatah view the calls by the two groups “with mistrust and suspicion.”
According to the report, the calls by Hamas and Islamic Jihad last weekend for launching a third intifada have fallen on deaf ears in spite of a number of violent incidents that took place in east Jerusalem and some parts of the West Bank.
Hamas opponents have accused the movement of seeking to ignite a third intifada as a way of ridding itself from its crisis in the aftermath of the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt.
They said that Hamas is seeking to embarrass the PA leadership in the West Bank by calling on Palestinians to initiate violent confrontations with Israel.
The sources said that Hamas wants an intifada in the West Bank while it is preventing terror attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip.
“The Israelis are sitting in the surroundings of the Gaza Strip and if Hamas wants it could ignite an intifada there,” the sources pointed out.