Houses are seen in the Israeli settlement of Itamar, near Nablus, in the West Bank, June 15, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.

JNS.org – An estimated 200 Palestinians showed up earlier this month to protest Israel’s plans to declare sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, and parts of Judaea and Samara.

The low turnout on June 8 demonstrates that the Palestinian Authority is having a hard time getting residents mobilized against Israel’s planned extension of sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria, known to many as the West Bank.

“There is fatigue. Fatigue from the usual—to stand in Ramallah and wait for the cameras to show how angry we are,” Palestinian analyst Nour Odeh told AFP.

She did, however, warn that the gathering is not necessarily a sign that stronger reactions won’t take place in the future. “People are not waiting for instructions [from officials]. The street will lead,” she said.

A larger protest in Jericho on Monday drew an estimated several thousand protesters, though they were transported there on chartered buses by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah, according to the report.

Ghassan Khatib, a former PA official, told AFP that the lack of anger over Israel’s possible extension of sovereignty is due to a widening “gap” between the Palestinians and their leaders, couple with the coronavirus pandemic and economic issues related to that.

“People have too many problems over their heads in this period,” noted Khatib.