Palestinians took to the streets of the West Bank city of Ramallah, to violent protests against the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing security cooperation with Israel. The protests came after Palestinian intelligence agencies, in apparent cooperation with Israeli intelligence agencies, proceeded with a manhunt after members of a terror cell heavily suspected of an intent to carry out an attack on Israelis. The suspected terrorists were located and arrested by the Palestinian security services for allegedly planning an attack against Jews, a move that led to a wide-spread public outcry, after which the Palestinian Authority decided to release the suspected terrorists, however, stressed that they will stand trial for possession of illegal weapons.
Israel responded to the release of the alleged terror cell by arresting four out of its five members. The fifth member was al-Araj, who Israel later had killed in an operation, claiming he was busy planning a terrorist attack. This, in turn, has led to the current protests across the West Bank, in which the Palestinian public demands an end to the security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority security forces and Israel’s defense establishment.