TENSIONS ESCALATE BETWEEN ISRAELI AND THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY
July 20,1997
Two days ago the Israeli government and its security forces launched a campaign against the Palestinian National Authority (“PNA”) and the Palestinian police.This campaign came after the Israeli security forces arrested four members of the Palestinian police force in the Jabal el-Tur area in Nablus. The Bracha settlement is located in this area. The Israeli security forces claimed the Palestinians confessed that one of their comrades was planning an attack on the settlement.
In response to the arrests, the PNA asked the Israeli government to transfer the suspects for questioning about the Israeli allegations. The PNA claimed that the Palestinian police were chasing a gang responsible for smuggling drugs
LAW-The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment views the PNA’s request to transfer the suspects to its authority consistent with Israel’s obligation under paragraph 4b of the Protocol Concerning Legal Matters to the Oslo II Agreement. This article states that every person who is not Israeli and is arrested by the Israelis in an area under their control should be transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction at the earliest opportunity. LAW applauds the formation of a committee by the PNA to investigate the Israeli claims against the Palestinian police. We also support the suspension of the accused from police duties during the investigation.
However, LAW expresses its astonishment at the Clinton administration’s intervention in this matter demanding that the PNA take seriously the Israeli claims. LAW believes that before the US government intervenes into the diplomatic affairs between two entities, it should take a more active role in halting Israel’s international human rights violations - house demolitions, land confiscations, settlement expansion, torture and continued administrative detentions in the Occupied Territories- which the US government itself and the international community have condemned repeatedly.
LAW is concerned by the continuation of the military and political campaign of the Israeli government to raise tensions with the Palestinian administration. LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.