The Israel Defense Forces supports strengthening the Palestinian Authority so it can more effectively combat terrorism in the West Bank, military officials said on Thursday, as the PA appears to step up efforts against Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Officials said the IDF was backing efforts to increase coordination and cooperation with the PA on the orders of the government rather than as its own initiative, despite statements from some government ministers who have urged the weakening of the PA.

The comment comes as PA security forces have been carrying out an operation against terror groups in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, including killing and detaining members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, seizing weapons, and neutralizing explosive devices.

The crackdown came after terror operatives stole two PA vehicles and paraded them through Jenin last week.

The PA has a relatively strong presence in southern and central West Bank cities, where it has managed to maintain public order. But in the northern part of the territory, especially the refugee camps in the Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem areas, the PA has struggled to exercise authority against the terror groups there.

Military officials said the PA gained some fortitude this week when its members entered Jenin and an adjacent refugee camp.

The army hopes to encourage the PA to continue carrying out such operations. Officials said the army will do what it can to ensure the PA is strong enough to successfully operate against terror, which would also benefit the IDF, but did not provide details about what steps were being taken to bolster the Palestinian force.

Officials declined to say if the military supports increasing supplies of arms and equipment to the PA security forces, which must be approved by Israel.

While hard-right elements of the government have long criticized the transfer of weapons to the PA, Israel’s security establishment maintains a different approach, viewing PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his security forces as an important ally in combating terror in the West Bank, and generally does support the transfer of arms and equipment to it.

As the PA faces a legitimacy crisis over its failure to deliver Palestinian statehood or even hold elections, its popularity has waned significantly, particularly in the northern West Bank where rivals have taken up weapons and challenged its authority.

In the past, the PA would not enter the northern West Bank cities and refugee camps after the IDF had recently operated there, arguing that the military’s raids hamper its legitimacy further, and insists that Israel let it deal with the problem on its own.

There reached a point where for months at a time the military would not carry out operations inside the refugee camps, giving the PA space to operate there instead. But the decision ended up enabling terror groups to gain significant power in the refugee camps, the Israeli military officials said.

Now, the IDF and PA have been operating in the refugee camps within a few days of each other, according to military officials.

The military also supports the potential increase in permits for West Bank Palestinians to work in settlements and inside Israel, after they were nearly all revoked following the October 7, 2023, onslaught, officials said Tuesday.

Currently, some 10,000 West Bank Palestinians have work permits, and the vast majority of them are working inside settlements or industrial zones in the West Bank.

The military sees the work permits as a significant method of easing the pressure on the economically depressed territory.

Also on Thursday, the IDF said it had identified a decrease in the number of incidents of Jewish terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank this past year compared to the previous year.

Still, some of the incidents of “nationalistic crime” — attacks by settlers against Palestinians — this year have been some of the most grave in recent memory, according to military officials.

Throughout 2024, the IDF and Shin Bet recorded 663 incidents of “nationalistic crime,” compared to 1,045 last year. In 2022, the military recorded 947 incidents, and in 2021, 446.

This year, there were several cases of Israeli settlers killing Palestinians in the West Bank, including during attacks by mobs on Palestinian villages.

The IDF has similarly recorded a decrease in the number of Palestinian terror attacks carried out against Israelis in the West Bank and in Israel, including knifings, shootings, and car-rammings.

In 2024, the military counted 254 terror attacks, compared to 847 in the year prior. In 2022, it recorded 342, and in 2021, just 91.

There has also been a major decrease in the amount of stone-throwing and Molotov cocktail attacks by Palestinians, with the IDF recording 1,188 such incidents this year compared to 3,256 last year, 3,779 in 2022, and 8,633 in 2021.

The IDF said it had killed at least 787 Palestinian terror operatives in the West Bank since the October 7, 2023, onslaught. Some 70% of them were armed with a gun, according to the military.

In all, some 820 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during that time, with 4% of them being civilians who were not gunmen or rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks, the IDF said.

Over 100 airstrikes were carried out by the IDF in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, mostly with drones and helicopters. Five were carried out by fighter jets.

Per year, the IDF said it killed 479 terror operatives in the West Bank in 2024 and 504 in 2023. In 2022, the military said it killed 155 terror operatives, and in 2021, troops killed 77.

The IDF said it had also detained 2,868 wanted Palestinians this year and another 3,026 in 2023. In total since October 7, 2023, the IDF said over 6,000 wanted Palestinians were detained, including 2,350 members of Hamas.

Also in the past year, 37 Israelis were killed in terror attacks carried out in the West Bank or by West Bank Palestinians inside Israel, according to the IDF’s data. In 2023, the military recorded 41 deaths in Palestinian terror attacks, 32 in 2022, and just 3 in 2021.

The IDF said it has captured some 1,042 weapons in the West Bank in the past year, including those being smuggled into the territory from the border with Jordan. In 2023, a similar number of weapons, 1,065, were captured. According to the military, since October 7, 2023, 1,499 weapons were seized.

In 2022 the IDF recorded 970 captured weapons, and before that in 2021, just 458.