Palestinian traders in the city of Jenin and its surroundings celebrated last Saturday with the opening of the Jalma (Gilboa) crossing by Israel after it had been closed for most of the past year.
The opening of the crossing led to the return of Israeli Arabs to the Jenin area where they are a significant purchasing power and therefore a significant factor in the city's economy. The closure of the crossing that prevented Western Israelis from entering the city and prevented laborers from Jenin from working in Israel severely damaged Jenin's economy and according to estimates the sales value of the merchants there decreased by about 50%.
In addition to closing the checkpoint, Israel increased the military pressure on the terrorist organizations in Jenin in a series of operations, some of which caused significant damage to the infrastructure.
According to Palestinian sources, many residents of the Jenin area, with an emphasis on the merchants, have turned to the Palestinian Authority in recent months and demanded decisive action against the terrorists and against the loss of control and governance.
This is why the PA's security forces began to increase their activity in the city against the terrorists, which drew severe criticism from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. According to the reports, the local residents demanded from the PA to ensure that the terrorists do not take any action that would lead Israel to close the crossing again...
In short, money talks in Jenin too.