Itongadol.- Dozens of Palestinian police officers have been operating against criminals in the A-Ram neighborhood just outside Jerusalem. A-Ram, which is adjacent to the separation barrier, is not part of Jerusalem’s municipal territory.
Since it is in Area C, which is under complete Israeli control, Palestinian forces are not supposed to operate there. But from time to time, the Israeli army allows Palestinian forces to operate against criminals in the neighborhood.
Residents say that since Friday, Palestinian police officers have been working in the neighborhood, arresting dozens of suspects for drug trafficking and running local organized-crime rings in what is considered an unprecdented operation.
Among those arrested are residents of Israel holding blue identity cards. Residents say that in at least one instance, a gun fight broke out between a suspect and the Palestinian police. The shooting ended with no casualties and the suspect was arrested.
Since the separation barrier was built in the early 2000s, the Israel Police has stopped operating in these areas and even in areas that are within Jerusalem\’s municipal limits, where the Palestinian Authority is barred from operating. As a result, the neighborhoods between Israeli and Palestinian-controlled areas have become hotbeds of criminal activity.
A spokesman for the Palestinian security services, General Adnan Damiri, told Haaretz that the Palestinian neighborhoods near Jerusalem such as A-Ram, Shuafat and Anata have become hubs of criminal activity for drug traffickers, arms dealers and thugs, together with Palestinians involved in crime who fled to those neighborhoods, knowing that the Palestinian police do not venture there and the Israel Police do not provide services there.