Palestinian Authority cuts security ties with Israel after deadly raid

The sides used to maintain security ties in a shared effort to contain Islamic militants

The Palestinian Authority declared on Thursday it would halt the security cooperation that has solidified the authority's hold over the West Bank, following Israel's military raid into the occupied territory that killed nine Palestinians.

The sides maintain security ties in a shared effort to contain Islamic militants, and severing them raises fears that attacks by militant groups might not be prevented.

The PA has tried such a move before as a form of protest with little success, in part because of the benefits the leadership enjoys from the relationship and also due to US and Israeli pressure to maintain it.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, made the announcement at a news conference in Ramallah several hours after the deadliest single Israeli raid in the West Bank in two decades.

He also said the Palestinians plan to file complaints against Israel to the International Criminal Court in the Hague and the UN Security Council.

The PA last cut security coordination with Israel in 2020, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's drive to annex the occupied West Bank, which would make a future Palestinian state unviable. But six months later, the PA resumed cooperation, signalling the financial importance of the relationship with Israel and the Palestinians' relief at the election of US President Joe Biden.

Netanyahu also had put his annexation plan on hold as part of a normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates.