Just over a week before police detained the three men, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to arrest Palestinians planning attacks targeting Israel in a televised interview on Israel’s Channel 2.

Abbas said the PA had played an integral role in halting a “bloody intifada” that could have manifested out of the recent round of violence, noting in particular the PA’s prevention of young Palestinians from carrying out stab attacks that would have likely resulted in their deaths.

For this, Abbas caught backlash from opposition parties.