Force 17
Force 17 constitutes today the personal guard of the President of the Palestinian Authority.
It was created in the years 1970 by Ali Hassan Salameh, when PLO was installed with the Lebanon and its first members were used primarily as bodyguards with Yasser Arafat, then chief of PLO to Beirut then with Tunis. It was also used sometimes to eliminate from the political adversaries of the Fatah.
After the Agreements of Oslo, Force 17 was transformed into one of the security services of the Palestinian Autorité. Its main role is since to protect the official persons in charge of the Palestinian Autorité in their displacements and their public appearances. Force 17 is generally regarded as the most honest security service with the president of the AP, like the Fatah.
Its manpower are composed of approximately 3300 men (2000 in the Gaza Strip and 1300 in the West Bank).
Its commanders since the creation of the AP were Faycal Abou Sharkh and Mahmoud Damra.
During the Tensions interpalestiniennes which followed the electoral victory of the Hamas in 2006, Force 17 was opposed militarily to the groups armed with the Hamas in the Gaza Strip, on order of the president Mahmoud Abbas.
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