The Palestinian Authority security forces have been instructed to resume their campaign against Palestinians suspected of "collaboration" with Israel, PA officials disclosed on Monday.

The officials said the order comes in the wake of Israel's ongoing policy of targeted assassinations against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah members, especially in the Gaza Strip.

...The PA already has about 100 suspected "collaborators" in its prisons in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including six who are on death row...

...At a closed meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council's Security Affairs Committee earlier this week, the Fatah and Hamas legislators put aside their differences when the issue of the "collaborators' file" was raised. The committee is headed by former Fatah security commander and minister Muhammed Dahlan, who himself has been repeatedly accused by his rivals of collaborating with Israel and the US.

The parliamentary committee, whose job is to oversee the work of the various branches of the PA security forces, decided that the time has come to launch a massive crackdown on "collaborators." The members of the committee also decided to issue instructions to the judiciary system to pass death sentences against those found guilty of working for the Israeli security services...

...At least seven Palestinians have been killed in the past two months in the West Bank after being accused of collaboration with Israel. All of the killings were carried out by Fatah militiamen belonging to the group's armed wing, Aksa Martyrs Brigades. The victims, who were executed in public squares, included two women from Nablus aged 28 and 50...