RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian security services raided the International Red Cross office in Ramallah on the evening of Dec. 18, hours after three parliamentarians decided to stage a sit-in there to protest President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to strip them of their parliamentary immunity. The decision affected these three parliament members — Jamal Tirawi, Najat Abu Bakr and Shami Shami — as well as dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan and Nasser Juma.

Abu Bakr told Al-Monitor they wanted to stage their sit-in in the Palestinian Legislative Council, but were unable to do so given the deployment of security forces around the parliament building, so they and a fourth parliamentarian, Jihad Tamliyah, decided to head to the IRC.

She added, “Security forces stormed the IRC headquarters and attacked us, taking us out by force into the street.” A spokesman for the security services said in a Dec. 18 press release, “The Palestinian police were notified that four citizens had broken into the IRC office in the city. The police had to take action to ensure the safety of the facility and to empty it of any person there without permission or justification, according to the law.”

Hassan al-Ouri, Abbas’ legal adviser, told Al-Monitor that the five affected lawmakers are all members of Fatah. He explained, “Abbas’ decision to strip the immunity of the MPs is in line with the Constitutional Court's interpretation that the president is empowered to strip the immunity of MPs when the Palestinian parliament is not in session.” The Palestinian Legislative Council has not convened since 2007 as a result of the internal Palestinian division.