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Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-733465
PA Moves to Stop Palestinian Armed Group in Tulkarm
(Jerusalem Post) Khaled Abu Toameh - Palestinian Authority security forces are working to prevent a new armed group from operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, a senior Palestinian official said on Monday. Armed groups consisting of a few hundred gunmen have been operating over the past year in Nablus and Jenin. At this stage, however, only a handful of gunmen have joined the Tulkarm Battalion. Unlike the situation in Nablus and Jenin, Palestinian security forces have moved quickly to stop the Tulkarm gang from establishing a foothold in the city. PA security officers raided the home of a suspected leader of the group, who managed to escape. Three other men who appeared in one of the group's videos were arrested by the PA in the past week. "We don't want to become like Jenin and Nablus," said Ala' al-Sharif, a Tulkarm shopkeeper. "The armed groups in the two cities have caused great damage to the economy. Thousands of Arab Israelis who used to do their shopping in Nablus and Jenin are now coming to Tulkarm because the situation here has been calm. The merchants in Nablus and Jenin are crying." However, in the past few days, dozens of residents of Tulkarm and the two nearby refugee camps took to the streets to protest the crackdown, accusing the PA of "betraying" the Palestinians.