Over the past five years of the second Intifada, Palestinians have grown accustomed with a sort of passivity to the large numbers of casualties and killings carried out by the Israeli forces. This dangerous passivity has blinded us from noticing the latest death-toll figures, even though these should shock us all as they represent the Palestinians-killed-by-Palestinians death toll, which this year is as high, if not higher, than the Palestinians-killed-by-Israelis death toll.

According to Majed Arouri, a researcher for the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), 151 Palestinians have been killed by internal violence or as a result of militants’ recklessness in 2005. (One of the most notable incidents was the parade-blast in September, when 22 Palestinians were killed when rockets accidentally exploded amidst Hamas' celebrations following the Israeli evacuation from Gaza). Another report published recently by the Palestinian Interior Ministry stated that over the past nine months, 219 Palestinians have been killed by fellow Palestinians, whereas 218 were killed by the Israeli army.

Regardless of the actual death toll, these gruesome numbers indicate just how badly the security situation in the Occupied Territories has deteriorated.

The Palestinian Interior Ministry, which also administers the security services, has called on all factions within the PNA to participate in enforcing law and order to stop such tragic figures from recurring. The Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who is also the security chief to President Abbas, said that he cannot fight crime without “a firm political decision to confront the armed groups.”

Despite various such public declarations about its serious intention to maintain public law and order, the PNA and Palestinian security forces seem to be overwhelmed and unable to cope with the recent spate of kidnappings and murders perpetrated by various armed members of various Palestinian political factions.

Just last week, a little known Palestinian group attempted to fight fire with fire by kidnapping three Hamas leaders; ironically, the group declared that the reason for these kidnappings was to punish Hamas for its disrespect of Palestinian law. Hamas has itself been responsible for a recent spate of kidnappings and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. And earlier this week, some disgruntled out-of-work Fatah members kidnapped two foreign journalists in Gaza.

The Palestinian government must act soon to empower the Palestinian security forces and to equip them with the necessary arms and authority to fight the perpetrators of these crimes. In addition, there must be higher levels of accountability within all branches of government. The politicians responsible for maintaining internal law and order must carry out their jobs, regardless of how difficult the circumstances. The judiciary must do all it can to bring to justice all those responsible for these crimes. Although we cannot help but become overwhelmed with the daily, ongoing violence committed by Israel against us, we cannot afford to ignore the violence committed by Palestinians themselves against their own people and their own institutions. The latest death tolls numbers should spark action and introspection across government and civil society alike; we must deal immediately with this growing lawlessness and culture of impunity before the Palestinian Territories descend into civil war.