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 Palestinian Authority Size: 2,350 square kilometers [includes Gaza and parts of the West Bank]. Population: 2.7 million |
Since September 2000, the Palestinian Authority has been engaged in a direct
and proxy war with Israel. The war includes fighting within Palestinian
areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as Palestinian attacks inside
Israel. The PA has used its security force of about 50,000 for internal
security and to stop Israeli incursions. But it has sponsored and cooperated
with Palestinian insurgency groups both formally aligned and opposed to the
PA for attacks inside Israel. Most of these attacks have been directed at
Israeli civilians and include the wide use of suicide bombers.The PA is not well-equipped for formal battle. The ground forces have 45
armored personnel carriers from Russias and do not have combat aircraft or
attack helicopters. Still, the Palestinians have developed rockets and
mortars. One of them is the Kassam-1 short-range missile, with a range of up
to five kilometers. The missile was fired toward the Israeli city of Sderot
near the Gaza Strip in October 2001.A key strategic concern within the PA is the marginalization of its chairman
Yasser Arafat. Arafat is said to be the target of rising opposition within
the ruling Fatah movement and his control over the security agencies has
decreased in 2001.
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