BICOM

Israel has made allowances for the establishment of two PA police stations on the border of Jerusalem as it considers a series of goodwill gestures to President Abbas, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. The stations were established in territory marked as Area B, which according to the Oslo Accords is under Israeli security control and Palestinian civilian control. However, in recent years, the IDF has allowed the PA to establish police stations within villages in Area B, as part of a government policy to bolster the PA and grant it the necessary forces to implement law and order in the Palestinian territories.

One of the police stations was established in the village of a-Ram, which lies northeast of the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Neveh Ya’acov, just outside the city’s municipal borders. The second station was established in what is known as the Biddu enclave, a group of eight Palestinian villages located near Ramallah along Road 443.

According to the report in the Jerusalem Post, the two police stations in the Jerusalem-borderline villages were established without Israeli government approval, but Israel will not demand that they be removed. The report added that the stations would likely be approved by the IDF as part of a larger package of goodwill gestures Israel is expected to make to the PA.

PM Netanyahu has been under pressure from both the US and EU to make goodwill gestures to Abbas as part of an effort to ensure the continuation of talks with the Palestinians in Amman.