In June 2021, DEFEND JERUSALEM notified Knesset Member Omer Bar-Lev, the Minister for Internal Security, that his office must do everything in its power to stop Jihad al-Faqih, a senior Fatah terrorist commander, from operating inside the Israeli capital.
Jihad al-Faqih, a resident of a small village inside the Palestinian Authority adjacent to Mt. Adar, is a senior member of the PA’s Security Apparatus with the rank of a brigadier-general. He is the PA General Intelligence chief for the Jerusalem area and operates to undermine, compromise, and endanger the security of the Israeli capital city and its surrounding areas. Among the many nefarious offensive undertaking by al-Faqih and his operatives, is the enforcement of Palestinian restrictions on selling land to Jews. Al-Faqih is in close contact with numerous Fatah and PA senior operatives who have been behind much of the violence and incitement inside the precincts of Jerusalem.
Forces under the command of the Palestinian Authority, as well as those under the command of Fatah, are forbidden—by law and by internationally negotiated treaties—from operating inside the confines of the State of Israel. Jihad al-Faqih has brazenly disregarded these mutually signed diplomatic accords that have been in place since 1994. Al-Faqih brazenly challenges Israeli sovereignty and security inside Jerusalem and he must be stopped immediately.
