The Palestinian National Security Forces (NSF; ar, قوات الأمن الوطني الفلسطيني ''Quwwat al-Amn al-Watani al-Filastini'') are the

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

security forces of the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

. The name may either refer to all National Security Forces, including some special services but ''not'' including the Interior Security Forces, the

Presidential Guard Presidential Guard may refer to: *President Guard Regiment (Bangladesh) *Presidential Guard Regiment (Turkey) *Presidential Guard (Greece) *Presidential Guard (Belarus) *Presidential Guard (South Vietnam) *President's Own Guard Regiment (Ghana) * ...

and General Intelligence, or refer to the main force within the National Security Forces. Since the signing of the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

, these forces operate in areas controlled by the PNA. In 2003, the organizations were merged into the Palestinian Security Services. The Palestinian National Security Forces engage in various activities, including general

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

. A rough estimate of the total strength as of 2007 is 42,000 troops. As the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

goes on, the security forces notably co-operate with other law enforcement agencies, such as arresting militant sub-groups and assisting the Israeli government with

prosecuting A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

those picked up. According to ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'', "In the past, Palestinian security forces have released arrested terrorists and then quietly tipped off Israel to mitigate internal public criticism against handing over Palestinians to Israel."

Background

As part of the Oslo Accords, the

(PNA) was authorized to recruit and train a police force with paramilitary capabilities, but was not permitted to have a military force. Several bilateral agreements between the PNA and Israel regulate the size of the force, its structure, armament, and composition. The agreements provide Israel with the right to review potential recruits and withhold approval of those with a terrorist background. They were not enforced, however, with the result that the actual size and equipment of the force in 2002 exceeded what was permitted. Initially, Yasser Arafat set up a string of 14 overlapping and often competing security forces, each one controlled by a rival political or former guerrilla chieftain, but all of them ultimately loyal to him and his Fatah party.''U.S. training Fatah in anti-terror tactics''
Matthew Kalman, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 December 2006 After Hamas had established a PNA government in March 2006, it formed its own security service, the ''Executive Force'', headed by Jamal Abu Samhadana, who was killed by Israel three months later.

Tasks

The National Security Forces engage in various activities, including general

. The Military Intelligence collects external military intelligence. It became the NSF ''Military Intelligence Department''. The Military Police is a separate unit. The Military Liaison coordinates security with Israel and participated in joint Israeli–Palestinian patrols in the past. The Naval Police is tasked to protect the territorial waters of Gaza.

History

Early history

The predecessor of the NSF was the PLO's Palestine Liberation Army. When the NSF were formed, most personnel was recruited from the PLA. Gradually, local recruits were added.''Entry-points to Palestinian Security Sector Reform''
Appendix A, p. 157-161. Roland Friedrich and Arnold Luethold, DCAF, 2007 From the late 1990s, the CIA played the central role in building up PA security forces, in close co-operation with the Israeli military and intelligence. After the killing of three US officials in the Gaza strip in 2003, British forces played an increasingly active role.''Palestine papers: MI6 plan proposed internment – and hotline to Israelis''
Seumas Milne and Ian Black, The Guardian, 25 January 2011

Second Intifada

The Palestinian Preventive Security Force played a significant role during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. It participated in major operations such as

Operation Defensive Shield Operation "Defensive Shield" ( he, מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן, ''Mivtza Homat Magen'', literally "Operation Shield Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the Second Intifada ...

. They also took part in battles such as the Battle of Jenin and the

Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem From 2 April to 10 May 2002, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank was besieged by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), targeting suspected Palestinian militants who had taken shelter in the church. As part of Operation Defensiv ...

2005 restructuring plan

According to

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, based on the Palestine Papers, in 2003, British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

approved a plan of the Secret Intelligence Service

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

for a US-led ''"counter-insurgency surge"'' against Hamas. MI6 proposed a secret plan to crush Hamas and other armed groups on the West Bank. It included internment of leaders and activists, closure of radio stations and replacement of imams in mosques. The plan recommended inter alia '' "Degrading the capabilities of the rejectionists – Hamas, PIJ alestinian Islamic Jihadand the atah-linkedAl Aqsa Brigades – through the disruption of their leaderships' communications and command and control capabilities; the detention of key middle-ranking officers; and the confiscation of their arsenals and financial resources"''. Also the internment of leading Hamas and PIJ figures should have been explored. The plan aimed to implement the

Road map for peace The Roadmap for peace or road map for peace ( he, מפת הדרכים ''Mapa had'rakhim'', ''Khāriṭa ṭarīq as-salāmu'') was a plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict proposed by the Quartet on the Middle East: the United State ...

.''UK Security Plan: British MI6 Palestinian Security Plan with Annex''
(2003). Al Jazeera, Palestine Papers, 2011. O

/ref> In March 2005, a secret British ''"Palestinian Security Plan"'' was presented with detailed proposals for a new security taskforce, based on "trusted PA contacts" outside the control of "traditional security chiefs", a British/US security "verification team", and "direct lines" to Israeli intelligence.''British Security Plan: Palestinian National Security Force Report''
(18 March 2005). Al Jazeera, Palestine Papers, 2011. O

View document on ''Guardian'' website
''The Palestine papers: a blueprint for security''
The Guardian, 25 January 2011 The document notes that Israel was not content with the functioning of the NSF and opposed enhancement of the organisation with munitions and surveillance equipment. In a "subtle approach", the “old guard” could be retired with honour, "with subtle timing, once the decisions are made and the new structures are emerging" ... "The Israeli occupation has totally destroyed the capability of the NSF itself n the West Bankand inflicted significant damage on its infrastructure. NSF personnel are not permitted to bear arms or to move between areas in uniforms ... The NSF, being unarmed, are in no position to confront the militants." On 2 April 2005, President Abbas dismissed West Bank national security chief General Haj Ismail Jaber. The reason given was a shooting incident on 30 March inside Abbas’ headquarters in which militants fired into the air. Abbas also fired Ramallah security chief Yunis al-Has. Abbas placed the security services in Ramallah on a “state of alert”. A large-scale reform of the

security services Security Service or security service may refer to: Government * Security agency, a nation's institution for intelligence gathering * List of security agencies (MI5, NSA, KGB, etc.) * (SD), Nazi German agency which translates as "Security Servi ...

followed that month. On 22 April, head of the Gaza Security Forces Moussa Arafat was replaced by Suleiman Heles.''Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine Monthly media monitoring review, April 2005''
. UN, Division for Palestinian Rights, 4 May 2005

2007 Fatah-Hamas conflict

During the year 2007,

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

, two of the main political parties in Palestine, were having confrontations in Gaza. The Fatah deployed the Palestinian Security Forces to confront the Hamas paramilitary forces in Northern Gaza. The confrontation led to the collapse of the Preventive Security Forces headquarters. The surprising Hamas victory led to the withdrawal of Fatah forces from Gaza.

2014 Italian–Palestinian training programme

By virtue of a bilateral agreement signed between the Italian Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior of the Palestinian Authority, the Carabinieri became a partner in the technical and professional training of Palestinian security forces and, for this reason, on March 19, 2014 Carabinieri instructors left Italy for

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

, where is situated the General Training Centre.

Incidents

*During the Battle of Gaza, Hamas militants seized several Fatah members and threw one of them, Mohammed Sweirki, an officer in the elite

Palestinian Presidential Guard The Palestinian Presidential Guard (PPG) ( ar, الحرس الرئاسي الفلسطيني) is a branch of the Palestinian Security Services under the direct control of the President of the State of Palestine. Its primary role is protection o ...

, off the top of the tallest building in Gaza, a 15-story apartment building. In retaliation, Fatah militants attacked and killed the imam of the city's Great Mosque, Mohammed al-Rifati. They also opened fire on the home of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Just before midnight, a Hamas militant was thrown off a 12-story building. *On 20 March 2015, two Palestinian children, Rakiz Abu Assab (10) and Mohammad Raed al-Hajj (11) were shot by Palestinian security forces near the Balata Refugee Camp, when the latter intervened against youths throwing stones. The former was shot in the stomach, the latter in the foot.'2 children shot during clashes with PA security forces,'
Ma'an News Agency 20 March 2015.

Divisions in 1995

Before the 2003–2005 reforms, numerous separate security forces, all under exclusive control of President Arafat, existed. The following list of forces (including Intelligence and Civil Police) was published, based on an interview with Gaza Police Commander Nasir Yusuf in early 1995:''"There's a man with a gun over there..."''
. Palestinian Authority Diary, Nigel Parsons, 1 March 1996 #National security ("al-Aman al-Watani") #Navy ("al-Bahariya") #Information Bureau ("al-Astakhabarat") #

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

("al-Shurta al-'Askariyit") #

Force 17 Force 17 ( ar, القوة 17) was a commando and special operations unit of the Palestinian territories, Palestinian Fatah movement and later of the Office of the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Chairman of the Palestinian Authorit ...

("Kuwat Sabatash") #Intelligence ("al-Mukhabarat") #Civil Defence ("al-Dufaa'a al-Madeni") # Civil Police ("al-Shurta al-Madeniya") #Criminal Security (al-Aman al-Junaa'i") #Drugs ("al-Sha'bat Mkafahat al-Makhdarat") #Riot Police ("Makafa't al-Shaghab") #Traffic Police ("al-Shurta al-Marour") # Preventative Security ('al-Aman al-Waqa'i") #Military Discipline ("al-Anthabama al-'Askari") # Presidential Security ("al-Aman al-Ra'isi")

References

External links

The Evolution and Reform of Palestinian Security Forces 1993–2013
Alaa Tartir, 18 September 2015
Palestinian Security Forces
Associated Press, 19 January 2005
Marsad – The Palestinian Security Sector ObservatoryAbbas outlaws Hamas's paramilitary Executive Force
Richard Boudreaux, The Boston Globe, 7 January 2007
Plan B
US State Department, 2007 {{National intelligence agencies Government paramilitary forces Military of the State of Palestine Law enforcement in the State of Palestine 1994 establishments in the Palestinian territories Military units and formations established in 1994 Gendarmerie Palestinian Security Services