Palestinian Security Services

Following the Oslo Accords in 1993, the number of separate Palestinian security forces, all under the exclusive control of President Arafat, had grown considerably. Based on the 1994 Cairo Agreement, "a strong police force" was formed which steadily grew far beyond the agreed numbers, to include soldiers and returnees from the diaspora.[8] By 1996, the PA had more than 35,000 security officers on its payroll.[9] Arafat ruled the forces in an authoritarian divide-to-rule manner, not devoid of corruption and nepotism.[8][9]

During the Second Intifada, in 2002, the Israeli army virtually completely destroyed the infrastructure of the Palestinian security, leaving a security vacuum that was soon filled by armed groups.[9] By 2006, some 70% of the Palestinians trusted non-PA forces, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, more than the PA security forces.[8]

In 2002, Arafat created the post of Interior Minister with responsibility for public order and internal security, including authority over the security organizations Preventive Security, Civil Police and Civil Defence.[10]

Under Israeli and international pressure, based on the 2003 Roadmap for peace,[11] Arafat started to reorganise the PSS. On 30 April 2003, Arafat issued a presidential decree calling for the establishment of a National Security Council (NSC) to oversee the PNA's security services.[2] It was the result of a power struggle between Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Arafat, and international - mainly American - pressure.[12] Abbas would become acting Interior Minister in his new government. On 11 September, Arafat announced the formation of the 14-member Council that would supervise all the security organs, with him as chairman. Like his predecessor, the newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei disagreed with Arafat about the appointment of the Interior Minister.[13]

On 8 November 2003, Prime Minister Qurei and President Arafat, after having resolved disputes over the choice of the new Interior Minister, agreed to divide the security responsibilities between the government and the National Security Council. The NSC (headed by Arafat) became responsible for security affairs, while the Interior Minister would be in charge of non-security administrative and civilian affairs.[2] Qurei was also a member of the NSC[14] along with the Finance Minister Salam Fayyad and the heads of the security agencies.[15] Eventually, Arafat's close associate Hakam Balawi became the new Interior Minister in Qurei's Government, which was approved on 12 November 2003. However, the National Security Council remained aineffective, as Arafat continued to control the security branches directly.[16]

Again under international pressure, on 17 July 2004 Arafat announced further changes to the PSS, reducing the eight separate security divisions to three branches, after 6 people were kidnapped in Gaza.[17] The three branches were: National Security Forces, Internal Security Forces and General Intelligence.[10]

Arafat nominated three close relatives as heads of the new branches, including his nephew Moussa Arafat, who was already head of the general security branch in the Gaza Strip.[17] It fueled protests and internal clashes between rival sections of the security forces staffed by members of Arafat's party Fatah. The already existing protests were widely seen as a power struggle ahead of Israel's announced disengagement from Gaza.[18] Yasser Arafat withdrew the controversial nomination of Moussa Arafat, but the latter remained head of the general security branch in the Gaza Strip.[18]

After his election as President of the Palestinian National Authority in January 2005, Mahmoud Abbas continued the reform of the security services. On 14 April 2005, Abbas confirmed that the previous 12 security divisions were to be merged into three branches, in accordance with the 2004 decree of his predecessor Arafat. On 4 June 2005, Abbas promulgated the "Law of Service in the Palestinian Security Forces No. 8 of 2005".[19] The three branches were:

• National Security Forces - under the leadership of the Minister of National Security and under the command of the Commander-in-Chief.
• Interior (Internal Security Forces) - under the leadership of the Minister of the Interior and under the command of the Director-General of Internal Security.
• General Intelligence - affiliated with the President, under the leadership of the Head of the service.

Nasser Yousef was named head of the three branches. With the reform, Yousef‘s responsibilities, who was appointed Interior Minister two months earlier, were considerably expanded.[20][21] Rashid Abu Shbak was named the new head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service.[21]

On 22 April, Abbas retired head of the Gaza national security forces Moussa Arafat and replaced him with Suleiman Heles; head of the Gaza General Intelligence Amin al-Hindi was replaced by Tareq Abu Rajab. Alaa Husni was appointed head of the Palestinian police, while a further 1,150 Palestinian security officials were also retired.[21][22]

From September 2005, the NSC was headed by the President and the Prime Minister. Other members were the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD), the Secretary General of the Presidency, the Interior Minister, the Minister of Civil Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Advisor.[2]

On 12 July 2005, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei established a Judicial Police Force under the responsibility of the Minister of Interior and National Security (at the time Nasser Yousef). The new force was part of the Civil Police Force and its tasks were inter alia described as: implement decisions of the courts and the Public Prosecution; protect the buildings housing the courts, the judges and the Public Prosecution; and transport and protect persons held in custody and convicts.[23] A Judicial Police subject to the Public Prosecution's Attorney-General already existed in 1995 since the Oslo Accords.[24]

Hamas won the parliamentary elections of January 2006 and formed a Hamas-led government in March, leading to a power struggle over the security services with the Fatah Abbas presidency.[25] President Abbas tried to remove the Fatah-dominated security organizations from the control of the Government; in an ironic twist, he tried with the support of Western governments to restore the old structure of the security sector as it had existed under Arafat.[26]

In March 2006, Said Seyam became the new PA Interior Minister, replacing Nasser Yousef. However, already on 20 February media reported that President Abbas had named the Fatah-affiliated Rashid Abu Shbak head of the internal security in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The outgoing Interior Minister Nasser Yousef denied the reports.[27] On 6 April 2006, one week after Hamas had formed government, Abbas appointed the Fatah-affiliated Rashid Abu Shbak head of the three security agencies, including the Preventive Security, Civil Police and Civil Defence (Public Security).[26][28][29] Abu Shbak said he was authorized to hire and fire officers in the three security branches. Though Seyam would technically be Abu Shbak's boss, any dispute between the two would be resolved in the Abbas-headed National Security Council.[28][30] Also, in April 2006, Abbas created under his own control a new Public Administration for the crossing points and borders. The Presidential Guard was expanded and provided with rapid-intervention capabilities.[26]

After President Abbas took direct control of the PA security forces, the Hamas government formed its own 3,000 strong paramilitary police force in the Gaza Strip, called Executive Force,[31] which was made up of members of its own military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.[26][32][2] On 20 April, Interior Minister Said Seyam appointed Jamal Abu Samhadana, the head of the militant Popular Resistance Committees, Director General of Executive Force. Hamas sought to include members of all the resistance branches (and thereby gain at least some control over the groups).[33]

The first men were deployed on 17 May 2006.[34] However, on 8 June 2006, Abu Samhadana, as leader of the PRC, was assassinated by Israeli forces.[35] In January 2007, Abbas outlawed the Interior Ministry's Executive Force. The Ministry resisted Abbas' order that by then 6,000 members of Executive Force be incorporated into the security apparatus loyal to the president's Fatah movement.[36] Instead, Hamas announced plans to double the size of its force to 12,000 men.[37]

Executive Force, as well as Hamas' armed wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, took part in the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007. On 18 June 2007, Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led PA Government and the National Security Council.[38]

In 2013, the PA's security budget was almost $1 billion, comprising 28 percent of the total budget. The large defense budget has been criticized because it is seen as part of the internal oppression system, as well as maintaining the crumbling Fatah movement’s hegemony and the status quo with Israel. Some 65,000 of the PA’s civil servants (41%) were registered as defense workers; 34,000 were not Hamas government employees in Gaza.[39]

As of November 2014, there were about 17,000 military employees in Gaza, including policemen, who were hired by Hamas since June 2007. They were still considered illegitimate by the Palestinian unity government of 2014 and therefore not paid.[40]

As of January 2005, the number of Palestinian Authority security forces was, according to Associated Press, about 30,000. The division was as follows:[41]

• Palestinian National Security Forces (Palestinian border police, military intelligence, military police and the elite Force 17 presidential security unit): about 15,000 members
• General Intelligence (collecting information and security for Palestinian diplomatic missions abroad): about 5,000 members in Gaza
• Palestinian Civil Police Force (Gaza's police force and preventive security agency meant to fight internal crime, at the time under responsibility of the Interior Minister): about 10,000 members

Since the new uprising that begun in October 2015 the Palestinian police seemed to show less willingness to suppress protests against the occupation. In December 2015, the Palestinian police even for the first time evicted Israeli Border Police who had raided Beitunia, a suburb of Ramallah in Area A, which formally is under exclusive security control by the Palestinians.[48]

Nevertheless, commander of the Palestinian Intelligence in the West Bank Majid Faraj revealed in January 2016, that the Security Forces since October 2015 had prevented some 200 "terrorist attacks" against Israel and arrested about 100 Palestinians on suspicion of planning attacks against Israelis. [53] It triggered a wave of denunciations from Palestinian factions that are strongly opposed to security coordination with Israel. A spokesman of Hamas said that the PA security forces played a role in serving the security of the occupation and combating the Palestinian intifada, and that “Protecting the security of the occupation has become part of the ideology of the Palestinian security forces”.[53] Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, on the contrary, defended the Intelligence chief.[54]

Palestinian security forces have often been criticized for suppressing their own people and crushing the resistance to the Israeli occupation.[48] They targeted the armed resistance as well as political opposition and protesters.[51][55][56] Hamas supporters were targeted, as well as Fatah members.[57]

In 2008, the head of the Palestinian Civil Police presented the Israelis with a laundry list of actions taken by the PA against Hamas. In the West Bank, Hamas members are frequently arrested, as were students supporting Hamas.[47]