The Palestinian Authority (PA) has asked Israel to restock its supplies of crowd control weapons following days of demonstrators in the West Bank, Israeli sources said Tuesday.
“While the PA has a stock of riot dispersal materiel, those reserves have been somewhat depleted in recent days, leading it to ask Israel to approve further shipments,” Israeli Ynet news site reported.
It quoted Palestinian sources as saying that such equipment can only be purchased upon Israel's permission, and in limited quantities.
Palestinian protesters and security forces clashed in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah in the past days after demonstrations sparked by an activist's death in custody.
Nizar Banat, a 43-year-old from Hebron known for social media videos denouncing alleged corruption within the PA, died on Thursday shortly after security forces stormed his house and violently arrested him, his family said.
Israel controls all border crossings into and out of the West Bank, and the PA cannot obtain weaponry without coordination with Israel.
According to Ynet's report, the PA requested from Israel tear gas and stun grenades.
Spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces denounced the Ynet news report, and said it was part of the Israeli policy to weaken the PA.
He said all countries have crowd control weapons, however, the PA cannot buy it without Israel’s permission.
