Abbas brings fighting to West Bank refugee camp

Palestinian security forces clashed with militiamen Monday in Balata, the West Bank’s biggest refugee camp. This was President Mahmoud Abbas’s first major attempt at asserting his control over rebels in the area. The action occurred only days after the Palestinian Authority sent in a force of 300 police officers.

            Palestinian police withdrew Tuesday with 2 suspects in tow after 12 hours of fighting. One policeman and eight citizens were wounded in the gunfire.

            Palestinian police would previously not enter four refugee camps in Nablus, a city where militants hold a good deal of power. Abbas, supported by Nablus’s governor, Jamal Mohsein, and the Palestinian police, plans to change that both in the city and in the rest of the West Bank.

            President Abbas has been experiencing increasing international pressure, which includes a recent visit from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to bring peace to the West Bank. And clearly, he plans to do it by force. Not even the refugee camps are safe, ironic.