Palestinian Authority security personnel are receiving advanced military training in Pakistan, China and other countries, with courses covering armored warfare, artillery, sniping and battlefield command.
By Hezy Laing
Military training far beyond ordinary policing
The Palestinian Authority (PA) describes its security forces as responsible for maintaining law and order, but evidence from military academies abroad and the PA’s own training institutions reveals a much broader program of military education.
The training includes armored warfare, artillery, anti-tank weapons, machine guns, sniping, parachuting and the command of military units.
This is not simply a question of individual officers attending occasional professional courses. The PA has established a formal system for military education, including specialized training abroad.
A decree signed by Mahmoud Abbas on October 9, 2007, explicitly provides for basic military training for all PA security personnel, attendance at military staff courses and military colleges, and specialized training overseas.
A 2010 regulation goes further, setting out procedures for sending PA security personnel to foreign military, police and security colleges, including advanced courses in national defense, military command and staff operations.
Pakistan: 49 cadets at a military academy
One of the clearest examples is Pakistan, where PA personnel have attended the country’s prestigious Military Academy in Kakul.
A May 2024 investigation by HaKol HaYehudi reported that PA security personnel had completed a two-year military program covering artillery, sniper rifles, machine guns, parachuting and armored warfare.
The investigation also published photographs of Palestinian cadets at the academy, including an image showing a PA cadet firing an RPG, a shoulder-fired weapon designed to attack vehicles and fortified positions.
In January 2025, Arab News received exclusive access to 49 Palestinian cadets studying at the Pakistan Military Academy, where they were integrated into regular military platoons alongside Pakistani cadets.
The newspaper reported that their education included military strategy, leadership, modern warfare, weapons handling and demanding physical training.
One cadet, Muhammad Eid, explained what he intended to do with the knowledge he was acquiring: “After passing out, we will share our experience and knowledge with Palestinian troops back home.”
Another cadet, Muhammad Yahya Arafat, said: “I am motivated to go, to go back to my country to protect my people, because I get very good training.”
China: armored warfare and military command
China has also become an important destination for PA military training.
An October 2026 investigation by HaKol HaYehudi, based on Palestinian records and officers’ social-media posts, identified several PA personnel who had attended Chinese military institutions.
One officer, Hassan Taha, announced in July 2026 that he had completed a course at a military academy in Beijing specializing in commanding companies of armored and mechanized vehicles.
Photographs showed Taha alongside a Chinese military officer and the PA’s military attaché in China.
The investigation also identified courses involving sniping, anti-tank warfare, advanced navigation and military command, indicating that the cooperation extends beyond ordinary police training.
Other countries providing military training
Pakistan and China are not the only destinations identified in investigations into PA military education.
A 2024 investigation by HaKol HaYehudi identified several additional countries where PA security personnel had received training or attended military education programs.
Jordan: PA personnel have received training in Jordan, including a reported case involving a security operative who received sniper instruction. Jordan also hosts broader security training programs.
Russia: PA security personnel have been sent to Russia for overseas training, although publicly available information about the specific military courses is limited.
Algeria and Sudan: Both countries were identified as destinations for PA personnel receiving military training.
Bangladesh: The country was also identified as a destination for PA security personnel participating in overseas training.
Indonesia: Indonesia granted scholarships to 22 Palestinian cadets. The precise military content of these programs has not been established.
Turkey: PA military-training cooperation with Turkey has expanded, with dozens of PA officers reportedly sent for training in recent years.
Italy: Tactical parachuting training has also been reported, although further independent confirmation of the specific program is needed.
The United States and European Union have separately funded and conducted extensive training for PA security institutions. Their principal publicly documented programs, however, focus on police professionalism, law enforcement and security-sector development rather than the advanced battlefield instruction documented in Pakistan.
Egypt has also trained Palestinian police for a possible future security role in Gaza, a separate program intended to prepare officers for policing and public order.
A growing military infrastructure
The PA’s overseas programs are only one part of the picture.
The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs has documented the expansion of the PA’s military training infrastructure, including the General Military Training Commission and the use of local training facilities.
One reported final exercise for an officers’ course involved soldiers stopping a vehicle and removing its occupants, a scenario that raises serious questions about the type of operational skills being taught.
The PA also possesses military equipment that goes beyond what ordinary police forces generally require.
Investigations have documented RPG launchers, heavy machine guns and armored vehicles among the capabilities associated with PA security personnel.
Israel has also approved certain equipment transfers over the years, including five armored vehicles in 2016 and another ten in 2019.
The significance is clear: personnel trained in military tactics and equipped with heavier weapons have capabilities that extend well beyond routine policing.
What Palestinian leaders said about October 7
The military training is taking place against a political backdrop that has also raised serious concerns in Israel.
Jibril Rajoub, secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, described October 7 as occurring “in the context of the defensive war our people are waging.”
He also said: “Hamas is part of our political and social fabric and of our struggle, and their involvement is important.”
In a March 2025 interview, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, an adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “We agreed from the start that the resistance is legitimate, and no one can dispute the legitimacy of the resistance.”
When asked specifically about October 7, Al-Habbash replied: “What happened on Oct. 7 is a legitimate thing, okay? It’s legitimate.”
Abbas himself said in an interview published in the PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida in June 2025 that October 7 “shook the foundations of the Israeli entity.” His remarks focused on the consequences for Gaza and did not constitute an explicit endorsement of the killing of civilians.
Why the training matters to Israel
The geographical reality makes the issue especially sensitive.
The JCFA analysis points out that major Israeli population centers lie within approximately 22 kilometers of parts of Judea and Samaria, placing millions of Israelis within relatively short distances of PA security bases and training facilities.
A potential attack originating near Jenin could threaten Afula and Yokne’am, while an attack from the Tulkarm or Qalqilya areas could endanger communities and major transportation routes.
These are potential scenarios, not evidence that the PA has approved an operation against Israel.
Israel’s concerns have also been expressed at the highest political level. On October 6, 2026, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the IDF must prepare for the possibility that PA security personnel could turn their weapons against Israeli soldiers and communities.
Foreign military education, advanced weapons and a growing training infrastructure can create capabilities that become extremely dangerous if the political situation changes.
