Israel and the Palestinians reached a new agreement regarding the arrest of wanted persons through the PA, but according to a Palestinian source in the PA, Israel violated the new agreement, and at the same time also violated an agreement signed with the Palestinians from 2007.
Before the operation of the authority that was in Nablus this week, and in which the Hamas terrorist Shteyeh was arrested, the expected replacement of Abu Mazen Hussein al-Sheikh and the head of Palestinian intelligence, Majed Faraj, met with a senior Israeli official, and in this meeting, it was agreed between the parties that the Palestinians would enter the West Bank cities to arrest wanted persons instead IDF.
The Palestinians' demand in the conversation was that the IDF stop entering Palestinian cities to arrest wanted persons and leave the matter in the hands of the Palestinian Authority. According to the source, Israel agreed to this.
We do not know who the Israeli official with whom Sheikh and Faraj met, but since this is a very senior delegation of the Palestinian leadership, and since from the information we have Benny Gantz was informed about the meeting and its results, our assessment is that the meeting was with Benny Gantz, or with a very senior member of the security establishment and the IDF, with Benny Gantz's consent.
Following this agreement, a Palestinian Authority force entered Nablus on Tuesday of this week, to arrest the Hamas terrorist Shteyeh, and during the arrest the force was confronted by armed men, who shot at PA policemen. According to the source, the Palestinians intended to continue arresting the wanted persons, as agreed, but already that morning, even before the Palestinian forces left Nablus, Defense Minister Gantz announced an offset of 10 million shekels from the money that the Authority transfers to Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians saw Gantz's statement as a violation of the new agreement with them to detain wanted persons, since the transfer of the offset money is anchored in the agreement that Israel signed with the Palestinians in 2007. According to the source, the agreement from the Palestinian side was signed by the then Minister of Prisoners, Ashraf Ajarmi, who also agreed to the conditions that Israel set at the time of signing. The Israeli condition was that the PA would also transfer payment to criminal Palestinian prisoners, so that it would not emerge from the agreement that Israel supports the transfer of funds to terrorists. As mentioned, Ajarmi agreed to this clause, and the agreement was signed.
After the ten million offsets, while confronting as mentioned in Nablus, the Palestinians considered withdrawing from the new agreement to detain wanted persons, but what made them do it in practice was that already that night, September 20, the IDF sent forces into Palestinian villages to detain wanted persons. Following this action, which according to the Palestinian source is contrary to the agreement reached by al-Sheikh and Fajer with the Israeli official, the PA decided to withdraw from the new agreement. A tipp check shows that on that night, September 20, the IDF was operating in the center of the West Bank, and in villages in the Jerusalem area, and not in the north of the Bank. It is possible that this is a source of misunderstanding between the Israeli senior and A-Sheikh and Faraj. It is possible that one side meant that Israel would completely stop entering the Palestinian villages and the detention of the wanted would be fully in the hands of the Palestinians, while on the Israeli side they meant only the north of the West Bank, in the areas of Jenin and Nablus.
It also turns out that the gunmen who shot at the Palestinian force that came in to arrest Shteyeh, were not from Hamas, but from Fatah, and the shooters are from the group of Fatah people who recently launched a protest Abu Mazen (see previous issues). The fact that these are Fatah men and not Hamas men, made it easier for the PA to reach a reconciliation with these armed men regarding the Hamas man who was arrested. The PA refused to enter negotiations with Hamas, because it saw this as a recognition of Hamas's power in the northern West Bank, and it does not want to give Hamas this promotion; the PA concluded that Hamas wants to take over the Palestinian Authority, and step into its shoes and the shoes of the PLO as the legal representative of the Palestinian people. Shteyeh is indeed considered one of the members of Hamas, but in Nablus he socialized mainly with Fatah members who saw him as one of their own, so they opened fire on the Palestinian force that arrested him. The control scenario in the northern West Bank is even more complicated, since following Abu Mazen's decision to declare Hussein al-Sheikh as his political successor, senior Palestinian officials who oppose Abu Mazen and his decision can deploy Fatah forces that obey their orders in the northern West Bank.