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Palestinian Police

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aliasesPalestinian Directorate of Police Force

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Summary

The Palestinian Directorate of Police Force established by Article IX of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement, the strong police force through which the Palestinian Authority assumes responsibility for public order and internal security of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, while Israel retains external security and the security of Settlements and Israelis (Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994), PDF p.2, 6-7).

Details

  • On withdrawal, Israel evacuates all military bases and other fixed installations to be handed over to the Palestinian Police (Article II(2)), and the Police are deployed and assume responsibility for public order and internal security of Palestinians under the Agreement and its Annex I (Article II(6)) (Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994), PDF p.2).

  • Its duties, functions, structure, deployment and composition, and provisions on its equipment and operation, are set out in Annex I, Article III of the Agreement, and its rules of conduct in Annex I, Article VIII; Annex I is not reproduced in the Agreement’s file, and the main text gives no strength figure (Article IX(1)) (Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994), PDF p.7).

  • Except for the Palestinian Police and the Israeli military forces, no other armed forces shall be established or operate in the Gaza Strip or the Jericho Area, and the arms exceptions in Article IX(3) run to the Police and the Israeli military forces only (Article IX(2)-(3)) (Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994), PDF p.7).

  • Part V of the United Nations study gives the force provided for by the Agreement as up to 9,000 officers; that figure is the study’s account and does not appear in the main text of the Agreement as filed (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000), PDF p.55).

  • Under the Interim Agreement’s primary text the force is one integral unit under the Palestinian Council with six branches (Civil Police (Al Shurta), Public Security, Preventive Security, Amn Al Ri’asah, Intelligence, and Emergency Services and Rescue (Al Difa’a Al Madani)), capped at 30,000 in all (12,000 West Bank, 18,000 Gaza Strip), with West Bank arms capped at 4,000 rifles, 4,000 pistols and 120 machine guns and Gaza arms at 7,000 light personal weapons, 120 machine guns and 45 wheeled armored vehicles; Israel is notified of every recruit candidate and a candidate it objects to shall not be recruited (Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (28 September 1995), PDF p.29-31).

Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Palestinian Authority, Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994), Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (28 September 1995), Palestinian Council

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