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The Gaza-based Hamas has criticised the ongoing operation carried out by the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s security forces against Palestinian fighters in the Jenin refugee camp, calling it a "fully-fledged crime".

In a Telegram statement on Monday, the group called for "popular mobilisation to break the siege and protect resistance fighters, as well as to confront this security operation, which only serves the occupation [Israeli] army and its failed dreams to put an end to the resistance in the West Bank".

The PA, which exercises limited control in the West Bank, coordinates with Israeli authorities on security matters, much to the criticism of Palestinians in the occupied territory.

Armed security personnel and armoured vehicles have been patrolling the Jenin camp area since early this month, and have arrested a number of Palestinians affiliated with the Jenin Brigades, leading to eventual clashes with them.

At least three people have been killed since, including one child, Palestinian media said. Among those killed was identified as Yazid Jaaysa, described as a "resistance fighter" by Hamas.

The Jenin Brigades, a Palestinian militant group active in the city's refugee camp, is an affiliate of Hamas and other resistance groups and has fought the Israeli army in the area since its inception in 2021.

The PA’s operation and siege of the Jenin camp subsequently led to protests from local residents, in a rejection of their practices against the resistance groups.

Jenin began observing a general strike on Tuesday in protest against the PA’s operation in the West Bank 'refugee camp, °®Âþµº's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said, which has been ongoing for two weeks. Clashes were still reported on Tuesday morning, Al Jazeera said.

Shops and schools have closed amid calls to end the violence in the Jenin camp, while businesses have stopped operating.

The Jenin Brigades, alongside the Al-Quds, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and others, present themselves as a more efficient alternative to resisting Israeli occupation and violence in the West Bank, in contrast with the PA. The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, following the Arab-Israeli War.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the authority’s security forces told the Qatari networkÌýthat the "Protecting the Homeland" security operation is occurring with an aim to put an end to what he described as "a state of chaos and lawlessness in the camp".

Hamas is the main rival to Fatah, the dominant party in the West Bank. Reconciliation processes between the two have been ongoing since 2006, but have yielded little to no results.

The clashes have added to the already-soaring violence in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have intensified their attacks over the past 14 months in parallel with the war in Gaza.