A huge number of Palestinian people rushed towards Thabet Thabet hospital in Tulkarm city, in the West Bank on Friday, July 26, upon a call by Tulkarm Brigade to mobilize and free its commander Abu Shujaa, after being besieged by the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces there.
The crowds succeed in breaking the siege and freeing Mohammad Jaber Abu Shujaa, the commander of Tulkarm Brigade, affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Saraya al-Quds Brigades, who was receiving medical treatment when the PA security forces surrounded the hospital. Clashes between the PA security forces and Tulkarm Brigade fighters were reported in the vicinity of the hospital before the crowds arrived.
The arrest attempt was condemned by major Palestinian resistance movements including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
In a televised interview with Al Jazeera, Member of the Islamic Jihad political bureau, Ali Abu Shaheen, commented on the arrest attempt saying: “it serves the agenda of the Zionist enemy.”
Hamas also said in a statement that “the behavior of the Palestinian Authority’s security services in pursuing and arresting resistance fighters, and their sources of weapons has reached its most dangerous stage”.
After being freed from the hospital, Abu Shujaa, who is considered one of the most wanted resistance fighters by Israel in the West Bank, arrived in Tulkarm’s Nour Shams refugee camp amid celebrations of the camp’s residents.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have reportedly failed several times to assassinate Abu Shujaa. In April, 2024, Israeli media outlets falsely claimed that the IOF managed to kill Abu Shujaa in a military operation carried out in Nour Shams refugee camp. The deadly operation which lasted for three days left 14 Palestinian people killed, including a minor.
Two days after Abu Shujaa was mistakenly reported dead, he appeared alive during a funeral procession held for Palestinian resistance fighters who were killed by IOF.
Abu Shujaa addressed the Israeli Occupation Forces in a video, posted online then, saying: “Our message is that we defied the Israeli occupation and we are still alive, and we are still walking on the path of the martyrs, no matter how much they assassinate us. This situation will not end until we claim victory.”
While major Palestinian resistance movements assure their utmost support to resistance groups and brigades in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority seems determined to proceed with its 19-year-old coordination process with Israeli forces. The Palestinian grassroots in the West Bank on the other hand are increasingly rejecting what many see as a betrayal of the PA to the Palestinian cause, and have instead exercised popular support for the resistance groups against the Israeli occupation.
