Ma'an – Palestinian security forces allied with the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) have begun a siege to Ein Beit El-Ma refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday morning. Nablus Governor Jamal Al-Muhaissen ordered the troops into the camp to arrest Palestinian fighters who are charged with illegally firing their guns into the air two days ago.
Uniformed PA troops were seen closing off the entrance to the camp and taking up positions on the roofs of prominent buildings inside the camp. Eyewitnesses said "dozens" of security officers have been deployed inside the camp. A high-ranking Palestinian security source told Ma'an that the security services are not besieging the whole refugee camp, but they are rather going after a group of "law breakers" and will continue to besiege their houses until they turn themselves over.
Wanted for 'firing into the air'
The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, accused the security forces of hunting four of their activists, and one member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Fatah party. The five men are charged with firing into the air during a ceremony in remembrance of the PFLP's "martyrs," those who have been killed by the occupying Israeli forces.
A PFLP spokesperson said that Palestinian security agencies had not issued an order not to fire into the air during celebrations or funerals. The PFLP furthermore accused the PA security forces of seeking to arrest activists who are wanted by the Israeli intelligence services.
Nablus Governor Al-Muhaissen denied claims that the Palestinian security forces would not arrest Palestinian fighters for firing at Israeli forces in self defense. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades spokesperson vowed that the fighters would neither lay down their weapons nor turn themselves over.
'Law and order'
The PFLP fighters say that in fighting against invading Israeli forces, they are not responsible for the ordinary crime and internecine fighting that has plagued Nablus in the past two years. The Nablus governor is currently implementing a US-backed multimilion dollar security plan aimed at restoring order to the city.
Nablus and especially its refugee camps have been a major center of resistance activity during the second Palestinian intifada, beginning in September 2000. The Fatah-contolled PA is under pressure from the US and Israel to supress armed groups like the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades in the West Bank in advance of a major Middle East conference.