Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has allowed armed terrorists to publicly march and fire into the air within the areas he controls in Judea and Samaria.

Kol Yisrael radio reported Thursday that about 20 members of Abbas’s Fatah movement marched in the Balata area of Shechem on Thursday afternoon, firing into the air. A source in the PA told the station that PA security forces were not on hand and did not deal with the armed terrorists.

The source indicated that some of the terrorists had been released from Israeli or PA prisons, after serving time on charges of terrorism, and that they are currently unemployed.

Kol Yisrael noted that Fatah has avoided allowing masked terrorists into the streets over the past several years but has done so three times in the past month: in the Dehaisha refugee camp near Bethlehem, in Bir Zeit, north of Ramallah, and on Thursday in Balata.

PA Arabs have rioted and attempted to carry out terror attacks in Hevron and throughout Judea and Samaria in recent weeks, while Abbas’s security forces have failed to stop them as they had done in the past.

The incidents have led some to warn that a third Arab intifada (uprising) is in the works.

A recently released video showed a group of Arab terrorists announcing the formation of a new military brigade, which would start a new intifada against Israel beginning in Hevron.

In addition, Abbas has gotten closer to the Hamas terror group after years of fighting. During Israel’s recent counterterrorism Operation Pillar of Defense, the two factions announced they have decided to end infighting. The PA later announced it will release Hamas-affiliated detainees as a goodwill gesture to boost reconciliation efforts.

Last week, for the first time since its violent takeover of Gaza, Hamas allowed the Gaza branch of the Fatah party to mark its anniversary in the region.