U.S. asks Israel to approve urgent military aid to Palestinian security forces

• Palestinian and Israeli officials said the operation is focused on a local armed group that includes militants affiliated with both Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas. Both groups receive funding from Iran.
• "This operation is a make or break moment for the Palestinian Authority," one Palestinian official said.
• Palestinian and U.S. officials said Palestinian leadership launched the operation out of fear that Islamist militants — emboldened after armed rebels took control of Syria — could try to overthrow the Palestinian Authority.

Driving the news: The security situation in Jenin has been deteriorating for months as the Palestinian Authority's control has gradually weakened. Local militants took control of the Jenin refugee camp more than a year ago and Palestinian Authority security forces refrained from entering it.

• Last week, Palestinian security forces tried to arrest several PIJ and Hamas militants who stole Palestinian security forces vehicles and used them for an armed parade through the refugee camp.
• The arrest attempt failed after violence broke out between the militants and the Palestinian security forces.
• A day later, the militants detonated a car bomb near a police station in Jenin, wounding three Palestinian policemen and two civilians.

The latest: Over the past 72 hours, Palestinian security forces sent a large number of troops to Jenin, surrounding the refugee camp and beginning to raid it.

• At least three militants, among them one commander affiliated with PIJ, were killed and about 20 people were wounded. At least one civilian was killed by Palestinian security forces.
• Several members of the Palestinian security forces have been wounded as well.

Behind the scenes: Videos of the militants' armed parade, which were widely circulated on social media, and the car bomb attack stunned the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, the Palestinian official and one U.S. official said.

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the heads of the Palestinian security services to launch an operation in Jenin and take control of the refugee camp.
• The Palestinian official and the U.S. official said that after some of his security chiefs expressed reservations, Abbas told them that whoever disobeys his order would be fired.
• Palestinian and U.S. officials said Abbas' aides briefed the Biden administration and President-elect Trump's advisers in advance of the operation. U.S. security coordinator Gen. Mike Fenzel met with the Palestinian security chiefs ahead of the operation to go over their planning, the Palestinian official said.

Details: The official said the Palestinian Authority gave Fenzel a list of equipment and ammunition Palestinian security forces urgently needs. Israel needs to approve any military assistance to the PA.

• The Palestinian official said the militants in Jenin, who he claimed were funded by Iran, are better armed and equipped than the Palestinian security forces.
• "If the Palestinian security forces had the sufficient weapons the operation would have been over already," the official said.

State of play: Fenzel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew and other Biden administration officials asked the Israelis to approve the urgent delivery of ammunition, helmets, bulletproof vests, radios, night vision equipment, explosive disposal suits and armored cars, Palestinian, U.S. and Israeli officials said.

• The Israelis approved the shipment when it was first requested last year but the Israeli government froze it after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Palestinian and U.S. officials said.
• The Biden administration also asked the Israeli government to release some of the Palestinian Authority's tax revenues it has frozen so the PA can pay the salaries of Palestinian security forces.

The Israeli security cabinet convened on Sunday to discuss the security situation in the West Bank.

• Approving the delivery of the military equipment to the Palestinian Authority is a political lightning rod for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• The White House and the U.S. Embassy in Israel didn't respond to requests for comment. The office of the Israeli Minister of Defense declined to comment.

Between the lines: Palestinian and U.S. officials said Abbas ordered the operation for two key reasons — to send a message to the incoming Trump administration that the Palestinian Authority is a reliable partner and to try to prevent what happened in Syria from happening in the West Bank.

• "It was a Syria effect. Abbas and his team were concerned that what happened in Aleppo and Damascus will inspire Palestinian Islamist group," one Palestinian official said.
• The Palestinian official said Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia support the operation in Jenin because they don't want to see "a Muslim-brotherhood style or an Iranian-funded takeover" of the Palestinian Authority.
• "It's a pivotal moment for the Palestinian Authority — either act like a state you say you are or go back to being an militant organization", the Palestinian official said.