Israel detains top Fatah leader, withholds PA funds over ‘terror support’

Tel Aviv accuses Ramallah of encouraging terrorism by providing financial compensation to the families of those assassinated by Israeli forces

(Photo credit: Telegram)

Israeli police arrested a top official in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Fatah party on 31 October, coinciding with Tel Aviv’s continued withholding of PA funds, which Israel says are used to encourage terrorism. 

Atta Abu Rumaila, Secretary-General of the Fatah party in Jenin, was detained along with his son on Tuesday night after an undercover police force surrounded and stormed his home. Abu Rumaila's son is a local resistance fighter in Jenin. 

Israel’s army and Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement that Abu Rumaila “advanced terror activity with funding of tens of thousands of shekels, and helped wanted persons and terrorist operatives,” adding that he “played a significant part in escalating the security situation in the region.”

The statement also referred to Abu Rumaila as a “central inciter of violence in Judea and Samaria, calling for terror attacks against soldiers and Israel while taking advantage of his public standing.”

“Given his status in Judea and Samaria and overseas, his actions constituted a high threat that warranted his immediate arrest.” 

Fatah, given its link to the PA and Palestinian Security Services, has cooperated with Israel in clamping down on resistance in the West Bank. 

However, there are elements of the organization that are loyal to the resistance and coordinate with West Bank resistance groups to confront Israel. 

Following a massacre carried out by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp in January, Abu Rumaila called on all Palestinians to take up arms against Israeli occupation. 

“Today, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, and the DFLP are fighting together. All of our Palestinian people and generations are on the battlefield … We call on all the masses of our Palestinian people to take up arms,” Abu Rumaila said at the time.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has rejected US calls for Israel to release tax revenue being withheld from the PA. 

“I hear that there are those who think that while our heroic soldiers and commanders are sacrificing their lives for the defense of the homeland, we should transfer money to this despicable enemy in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said. 

“We will not repeat mistakes and assumptions that we paid dearly for,” he added. 

The finance minister announced earlier in the week that he has instructed the ministry to halt a transfer of funds to Ramallah, due to what he referred to as support for Hamas’ 7 October operation against Israel. 

 Smotrich is currently urging the Israeli cabinet to reevaluate its policy on such transfers. 

Israel has long been known to withhold funds from the PA over accusations of encouraging terrorism.

These accusations stem from financial compensations given by the PA to the families of those killed by Israeli forces. Many of these compensations also go to the families of resistance fighters assassinated by Israel. 

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