Boasting about the number of Israelis killed by PLO, Fatah says Hamas and the PLO should be "partners," not "competitors"
Video posted on the Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture
Fatah Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Nazzal: “I don’t have the number 1-1-1, which is 1,111 (sic., 111). I have this number: 667 (Nazzal holds up a page with “1982 = 676” written on it, despite saying “667” -Ed.). In 1982, the PLO forces killed 676 Israeli army personnel in the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (i.e., the First Lebanon War). This number is higher than the Israelis killed in the three wars that took place [in Gaza] in recent years by 560 (Nazzal holds up a page with “2009 = 9,” “2014 = 68,” and “2021 = 12” written on it -Ed.).
In the 2009 war Israel lost 9 soldiers, in the 2014 war 60 soldiers, and in the 2021 war 12 were killed including 2 of Palestinian origin (refers to Hamas rocket barrages; see note below -Ed.).
The PLO is not a partner so that we will call it ‘the administrative board.’ There are economically small factions in the PLO that has been fighting Israel for 40 years. In that period, in 1990 I took the high school matriculation exam in Palestine. That summer, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) lost 30 Martyrs who came through the Lebanese-Palestinian (i.e., Israeli) border to carry out operations (i.e., terror attacks) against Israel.
If you would come today to a faction the size of the DFLP with minimal economic capabilities and tell it: ‘I’m called Hamas, I carried out the first military operation against the Israeli occupation in 1991 – 100 years after the start of the Israeli attack on Palestine,’ it would tell me: ‘I also have a right.’ Here I say, the sacrifices that all the factions have made, including the Hamas Movement, are worthy of respect and appreciation.
The sacrifices being made by the PLO factions and the Palestinian people that is not in the framework of any faction are worthy of respect and appreciation. But this is not a competition, this is not the world cup of blood, it is not the world cup, it is partnership. And we want the partnership to be in the framework of true respect.”