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More than 400 people have now been killed since the start of the Palestinian uprising almost six months ago - the vast majority of them Palestinians.
But the Palestinian Authority is also involved in another war - an internal battle against those accused of collaborating with the Israelis.
Two alleged collaborators have already been executed. A further three death sentences have been handed down - though they have not been confirmed.
No mercy is shown to those who come under suspicion.
Beatings
Bassam Aslimi, a Palestinian suspected of collaborating, says he cannot forget: the night last December when he says he was beaten, and heard the anguish of his cousin Hossam, in the cell next door.
"I heard a lot of noise and cryings and beatings," he said. "And because of the screams, I even put my fingers in my ears, so as not to listen to the cries and voices.
"The way they tortured him - it was like a butchery. I later understood that they were trying to make him sign a confession.
"When he refused, they returned and started to beat him again - so as to force him to sign."
 Mohammed Daiefallah pleads for his life before being sentenced to death
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It is a huge structure, proudly displaying the Palestinian flag. But, after he passed through here, Hossam was sentenced to death.
His trial lasted four hours - including a two-hour break.
Palestinian Justice Minister Frey Abumadin said he had so little faith in the verdict on Hossam that he stepped in to have it suspended.
But he says proper procedures are a luxury the Palestinian Authority cannot afford.
Assassinations
"I admit the fact that the legal procedure is not completely 100%," he said.
"We are in a hurry. What are we going to do? We are in a corner, our back to the wall. We can't wait for more victims, more assassinations, more assassinated.
The assassinations have been carried out by Israel. It has killed a string of suspected Palestinian militants, based on tip-offs from collaborators.
In the narrow backstreets of Bethlehem, that is causing a lot of tension and fear about "the enemy within". Fingers are being pointed in every direction.
 Israel continues to keep security tight
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He added that it was easy for Israel to recruit collaborators because people are starving and will do anything to bring in money.
Another man, a long-term collaborator whose identity cannot be revealed, told of feeling trapped.
"They had receipts they had signed, for money they gave us, and pictures of us with Israeli intelligence guys," he said.
"They said they'd send them to the Palestinian Authority and put them out on the streets, and we would find our fate there."
Sentence suspended
Hossam Aslimi is still waiting to discover his fate.
His cousin Bassam took me to the small stone house outside Bethlehem which was Hossam's home and where his family still wait.
Though his death sentence has been suspended, Hossam is still behind bars.
He is 18, but his family says he cannot read or write and that he has the mind of a child. His mother, Mahathia, is keeping things just as he left them.
"He had never spent one night away from the house. He's an innocent boy," she says.
At least Hossam is still alive. Another man suspected of collaborating died last month after 20 days in Palestinian custody.
While Palestinians endure a long wait for an independent judiciary, they have no-one to protect them from their own police.
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