Head of Palestinian intelligence service to be tried for foiling W. Bank attacks
Majid Faraj is accused of 'acknowledging that he thwarted operations of Palestinian resistance'
The head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service is set to be put on trial in Gaza for foiling Palestinian terror attacks in the West Bank, Palestinian reports said Monday.
Gaza's public prosecutor filed a lawsuit against Majid Faraj to the Gaza Military Court, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
Faraj is accused of "sincerely acknowledging in the media that he had thwarted the operations of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank," the prosecutor said.
"The Palestinian resistance and its weapons are legitimate and acting against it is strictly prohibited," the prosecutor added, according to the report.
"Every attempt to foil the resistance's operations amounts to a crime and an utmost betrayal, and the person standing behind it must be punished," the prosecution added.
The announcement came amid reports that secret negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have taken place in the last few weeks addressing the return of full Palestinian security control over cities in Area A of the West Bank, Haaretz reported.
According to senior IDF officials quoted in Haaretz, the IDF would use Ramallah and Jericho as test cases, withdrawing from them initially and then from other Area A cities depending on how the "trial" goes.
The IDF would retain the ability to enter these cities in "ticking bomb" situations, Haaretz says.
While Area A — about 17 percent of the West Bank — was designated as being under full Palestinian security and administrative control in the Oslo Accords, when Operation Defensive Shield began with the IDF's incursion into Ramallah, the army once again began operating in the territory, despite the ongoing presence of the Palestinian police force.
Nonetheless, the talks — which according to Haaretz were intended to improve security cooperation between Israel and the PA and to improve stability in the West Bank — are currently deadlocked, hampered by a lack of buy-in at the political level on both sides.
Haaretz reported that the talks were initiated by the Coordinator of Government Affairs in the Territories Gen. Yoav Mordechai, who heads up Israel's military government in the West Bank, and head of Central Command Ronny Numa.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have all been kept apprised of the talks, Haaretz says.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, Faraj and head of preventive security Ziyad Hab el-Reikh also took part in the discussions.
US security coordinator Fred Rodsheim was also kept in the loop about the talks, Haaretz says.
According to the report, the talks were initiated following a security coordination meeting between the two sides in which the Palestinians — all three who ended up being involved in the negotiations — threatened that the PA would end its security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank unless the IDF stopped operating in Area A.
The Palestinians also said that the situation in Area B — which is under Palestinian administrative control and Israeli security control, and makes up about 23 percent of the West Bank — would have to be restored to pre-2002 conditions. According to Haaretz, Israel is also restricting the PA's activity in this territory.