After the terrorist attack by Hamas, Israel is now also fighting in the occupied West Bank of Jordan against the Islamist organization. The aim of the Israelis is to prevent a strengthening of Hamas in the West Bank. Since October 7, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with the army and extremist Israeli settlers.

The weakened Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas he has nothing to oppose the violence of the settlers and the violence of the Palestinian extremists. At rallies in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip, some protesters reportedly tried to reach Palestinian Authority (PA) government buildings.

However, the security forces managed to prevent them. Thousands took part in the anti-Israel protests, organized in part by members of Hamas.

Palestinians unhappy with Abbas

The Palestinian Authority’s strategy is currently based on “allowing public protests as a relief valve for Palestinian discontent,” writes Naomi Neumann of the Washington Institute, a US think tank. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority wants at all costs to avoid violent demonstrations because Hamas could benefit from it.

It should be noted that Mahmoud Abbas leads the Palestinian Authority and Fatah within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Fatah and Hamas are the two largest Palestinian organizations and fierce rivals.

The last presidential elections to date were held in 2005 and the last parliamentary elections in 2006. According to surveys, many Palestinians are unhappy with the 87-year-old Abbas. The vast majority want his resignation. In addition, the Palestinian Authority is often faced with allegations of corruption.

Hamas vs. Fatah

As part of a bloody civil war, the Islamist Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007. Since then, Abbas has de facto ruled only in the West Bank. But his influence there is small. Nothing weakens the Palestinian Authority more than its inability to protect Palestinians from settler violence, stresses Palestinian analyst Jihad Harb. And since October 7 there has been increasing violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

According to human rights activists, seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers, while hundreds have been displaced in the past month. According to the Haaretz newspaper, on October 12, settlers and soldiers brutally beat three Palestinians for hours, urinated on them, stripped the men to their underwear, and then photographed them. The perpetrators are said to have extinguished cigarettes on the victims’ bodies. According to the report, there was even an attempt at sexual abuse. The Israeli military announced that it was investigating the incident.

Some far-right politicians in the Israeli government who defended it are also responsible for the escalation of violence on the part of the settlers, writes analyst Alex Lederman in the American magazine “Time”. Despite the great dissatisfaction with the Palestinian Authority, the analyst currently sees no signs of an attempt to overthrow Mahmoud Abbas by Hamas.

People don’t believe in violence
According to Neumann from the Washington Institute, surveys show that “the local population has great reservations about the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah party, but does not see Hamas as a solution.” However, Harb takes it for granted that Hamas’ approval ratings in the West Bank have increased since the terror attacks in Israel.

Palestinians in the West Bank are currently unwilling to engage in violence, Neumann sums up. The population doubts that violence has an effect. “If they resort to violence, the price is high.” According to the Ministry of Health, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the year in Israeli military operations and clashes. According to human rights organizations it is the highest number of victims in more than 15 years.

Edited by: Efthimis Angeloudis