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Unrest continues; Israel reportedly mulls possible PA collapse

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Three Palestinians were killed yesterday in the West Bank as they attempted to attack Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, it has been reported that senior Israeli ministers have debated the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

In the first of yesterday’s incidents, 51-year-old Samer Hassan Sarisi from Jenin arrived at Tapuach Junction in a taxi and ran at border policemen with a knife before being shot by officers. Later in the day, 21-year-old Yehya Yusri Taha was shot dead after throwing a firebomb at soldiers during a raid in the West Bank village of Kattana. And yesterday evening, 19-year-old Khaled Mahmou Jawabra was shot dead with a firebomb in his hand south of Hebron. In the latest attack, two Israeli soldiers were injured this morning after a vehicle rammed into them at the Kfar Adumim Junction. The Palestinian attacker was shot and killed.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reports this morning that Israel’s security-diplomatic cabinet has been discussing in-depth the potential collapse of the PA during the past couple of days. The concern has been raised particularly in the wake of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the region this week, which failed to extract movement from either side. According to the report, with the government having received information that the PA will look to take steps against Israel at the United Nations (UN), a meeting of the security-diplomatic cabinet took place. Their concern is not that PA President Mahmoud Abbas himself will dissolve the PA, as he has previously threatened to do, but that the PA will cease to be relevant due to Israeli military pressure, economic pressure and waning legitimacy on the Palestinian street.

Apparently, the security-diplomatic cabinet devoted two lengthy sessions to the issue. Although the defence establishment regards the potential dissolution of the PA as a grave development, some ministers reportedly feel that it may be a positive step as it would undermine the PA’s efforts at the UN and other international forums.