After over a decade of not visiting, PA president Mahmoud Abbas to go to Jenin on Wednesday

President of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas is set to visit the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday, spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh confirmed to media outlets. 

Abbas will travel from Ramallah to Jenin using a Jordanian helicopter, according to one Palestinian source. 

The visit holds significance as it marks his first appearance in the camp in over a decade. The decision comes shortly after a fierce two-day Israeli military raid in which at least 12 Palestinian were killed, including at least one unarmed child. According to the Israeli military, one Israeli soldier was killed in the operation.

Abbas will "look at the reconstruction efforts in the city of Jenin and the camp after the latest Israeli aggression and meet officials and popular representatives", Abu Rudeineh added. 

High-ranking PLO officials, including Hussein al-Sheikh and Majed Faraj, will accompany Abbas, Al-Araby al-Jadeed has reported. Palestinian Authority prime minister Muhammad Shtayeh will also be in Jenin on Wednesday. 

After years of failed governance and repeated Israeli military incursions, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority hopes to re-establish control over Jenin. 

During a funeral procession in Jenin's camp that followed the air and ground offensive by the Israeli forces on the 3rd and 4th of July, angry mourners kicked out several senior Fatah members who came to offer condolences. Videos of the incident were widely shared and caused embarrassment to Fatah. 

It wasn't the first time Palestinians expressed anger at officials and widely unpopular policies. 

Last month during an address to the residents of the Palestinian town of Turmus Aya, Prime Minister Muhammad Shataye faced a moment of critique from an older man whose house had been burnt down the night before. This incident occurred following an attack by Israeli settlers on the town's residents and properties. As the prime minister spoke, the older man stood beside him, expressing his staunch criticism of the Palestinian Authority.

"I lay the responsibility first on our government which is not protecting us...either you provide protection or give us arms. You have 70,000 armed men [security members] spread them in the villages", the man said before walking away. 

The anger at the Fatah elite and the Palestinian Authority stems partly from the PA security forces' lack of response to ever-increasing Israeli military incursions and settler attacks.

Security coordination between the PA and Israel, Israeli settlement expansions, and diminishing prospects of a political deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis that would end the occupation have left Palestinians in despair. 

Sceptics of Fatah's leadership view President Abbas' visit to Jenin with a sense of doubt regarding its sincerity. They perceive it as an attempt to regain influence within the camp, which is known for housing daring militants who have, to varying degrees, challenged the Israeli army.

On 19 June, Israeli forces conducted an operation in Jenin that spanned over 11 hours in which five Palestinians were killed, including one child. During the incursion, Palestinian fighters utilised improvised explosive devices, which caused damage to Israeli military equipment.

It is said that the deployment of road mines led the Israeli military to carry out the large-scale attack on 3 July, pushing hundreds of its ground forces deep into the refugee camp. 

By 4 July, more than 500 Palestinian families, consisting of more than 3,500 people, were forcibly displaced because their homes had been damaged, wholly destroyed, or due to safety concerns. According to the UN, the displaced population stayed in government buildings, hotels, mosques, churches, government hospitals and with relatives. 

On Sunday, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu's security cabinet reiterated support for the Palestinian Authority and said it would take measures to stabilise the situation in the Palestinian territories. 
 
"Israel will act to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority while demanding that it cease its anti-Israel activity in the international legal-diplomatic arena, the incitement in its media and education system, the payments to the families of terrorists and murderers, and the illegal construction in Area C", the cabinet said in a statement released to the press. 

It is unclear what measures Israel would take to "stabilise" the situation in the occupied West Bank. But observers see a link between Israel's latest announcement and Abbas' intended visit to Jenin. 

They reason that Presidents Abbas' Palestinian Authority is under pressure to fulfil its security mandate, and the visit to Jenin must be at the behest of the Israelis and Americans.