Fatah active in Jenin battle as PA calls to defeat Israel
- 5 of the first 9 terrorists killed in Jenin are affiliated with Fatah
- Fatah calls for holy war: “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Onward to Jihad, onward to Jihad”
- PA PM Shtayyeh endorses Jenin terror: “The occupation and its invasions cannot defeat heroic Jenin… Our people will not bend down and will not submit. We will continue the struggle until the criminal occupation passes from the world”
- Fatah official calls on PA Security Forces to join terror in Jenin
- Fatah to join terrorists and “fight the Israeli enemy”
- Even before the current Jenin battle, PA loved the terror hub, coining Jenin: “A beautiful bride, who perfumes herself daily with the scent of Martyrdom"
- Fatah official praised Jenin terrorist ambush of Israeli forces in June as “loftiest examples of pride and honor”
Ironically, while Israel has announced that one of its goals in the anti-terror operation in Jenin is to enable the Palestinian Authority under Fatah to rule more securely, the PA and Fatah are both calling to fight Israel, and Fatah terrorists are taking an active role in the fighting. According to Palestinian sources, Ali Al-Ghoul, Muhammad Al-Shami, Samih Abu Al-Wafa, Ahmad Amer, Muhammad Abu Samra, who have been killed in the fighting are all affiliated with Fatah.
In recent years, many Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians have come from Jenin, and many terrorists have fled to Jenin as a city of refuge following their terror attacks. Israeli forces have been met with violence and terror when seeking to arrest those wanted terrorists. The current Israeli military operation in Jenin seeks to root out the terror infrastructure in the city, restore deterrence, and enable the PA to rule.
During the first day, Israeli forces uncovered more than 300 hidden explosives, booby-trapped buildings, and apartments, and destroyed a terror headquarters located next to a medical clinic and two schools, one of them belonging to UNRWA. Terrorists opened fire on Israeli forces from within a mosque, and after gaining control of the site, the Israeli forces discovered weapons caches including explosives and entrances to underground tunnels in the mosque's basement.
Since Israel’s launch of this anti-terror operation, the PA and Fatah have expressed their full support for the terrorists. Fatah called for holy war – Jihad – while bragging that Fatah terrorists in Jenin are using “locally produced explosives” against Israeli forces:
Posted text: “The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (i.e., Fatah’s military wing) – Palestine the occupied land
Our fighters are aiming locally produced explosives at the occupation forces and the military vehicles. There are verified hits in the enemy’s ranks and its vehicles that are invading the Jenin [refugee] camp
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar (i.e., “Allah is greatest”)!
Onward to Jihad, onward to Jihad
[This is] a general alarm for all our fighters in the West Bank to strike the Zionist enemy and its settlers wherever they are.”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, July 3, 2023]
Fatah further emphasized its call to expand the “heroic Jenin battle” with attacks on “every inch of our land,” an explicit call for terror attacks throughout Israel, which the PA and Fatah define as “Palestinian land”. The threat was punctuated by a quote from the Quran, calling to kill and expel enemies “from wherever they have expelled you”:
Posted text: “In the name of All Merciful Allah –
‘And kill them [in battle] wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you’ [Quran 2:191, Sahih International translation]
A military announcement of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (i.e., Fatah’s military wing)… With Allah’s help and might we announce [the launch of] the heroic Jenin battle… Let the enemy know that the arm of the resistance is long, and it will reach every inch of our land.”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, July 3, 2023]
Fatah official Jamal Huweil called on the PA Security Forces to join the terror in Jenin, referring to the terrorists as “heroes who do not fear death at all”:
Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Huweil: “The morale is sky-high, as if we were in the 2002 [Jenin] battle. There are heroes who do not fear death at all... The young people are united, they have ammunition and equipment… This is a message to all our heroes in Palestine: The Jenin refugee camp is fighting for the honor of Jerusalem, for the Gaza Strip… The fate of this refugee camp is always to write history in letters of gold and blood... Our motto is that this occupation will pay the price if it enters our alleys, neighborhoods, and homes, the criminal Zionist occupation. This is a message to all members of the Palestinian people, and a message to the free people, the members of the [PA] Security Forces: The time has come for you to defend your sons and your brothers in this refugee camp. This is a message to Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and the PFLP, let them all turn into military wings to fight this occupation.”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 3, 2023]
PA PM Muhammad Shtayyeh also endorsed the continuation of Jenin terror:
Shtayyeh: “The occupation and its invasions cannot defeat heroic Jenin… Our people will not bend down and will not submit. We will continue the struggle until the criminal occupation passes from the world.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 3, 2023]
A Fatah spokesman announced that Fatah will join forces with the rest of the terrorists in Jenin and “fight the Israeli enemy”:
“Fatah Movement Spokesman Mundhir Al-Hayek said…: ‘We say to the Israeli enemy that Fatah, and all the Palestinian factions together with it, will fight in the operation of aggression against Jenin and will thwart it.’”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 3, 2023]
Fatah also announced a continuation of terror “until victory or Martyrdom”:
Text on image: “They will not harm our determination
Continuing on our path until victory or Martyrdom”
Posted text: “They will not harm our determination”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, July 3, 2023]
PMW has exposed that Fatah has been united with the Islamic Jihad terror organization in the West Bank. Since the beginning of Israel’s counter-terror operation in Jenin, Fatah has stressed this cooperation again:
The man on the left is from Islamic Jihad’s military wing, “The Al-Quds Brigades,” while the man on the right belongs to “The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades,” Fatah’s military wing.
Text on image: “The heroic Jenin battle –
United in the arena, fighting as one man”
Posted text: “#The_heroic_Jenin_battle”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, July 3, 2023]
Even before the current Israeli operation, the Jenin terrorists were not acting alone. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that the PA and Fatah take great pride in the fact that members of the PA Security Forces and Fatah’s terror wing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades are among the terrorists, also in Jenin.
The PA’s encouragement and endorsement of terror against Israel has been documented by PMW for decades. The following poem praising Jenin terror is an example of one of the ways the PA keeps the flame of terror burning, and makes sure Palestinians understand that the PA wants terror and is very content with whoever decides to take up arms to fight Israel.
The poem – which was recited by a PA TV narrator during a broadcast about Palestinian terrorists ambushing Israeli forces in Jenin on June 19, 2023 – lauds terror hub Jenin as a “beautiful bride, who perfumes herself daily with the scent of Martyrdom”:
Official PA TV narrator: “Jenin is the pain of the oppressed
The pain of those rising up
The symbol of the fighters
Jenin is exporting freedom to the entire world
And presenting its sons as a sacrifice for Jerusalem and the cause
Jenin is our beautiful bride, who perfumes herself daily with the scent of Martyrdom”
[Official PA TV News, June 19, 2023]
In the ambush mentioned above, the terrorists wounded 7 Israeli soldiers with an explosive, while 7 Palestinians, most of them terrorists, were killed and dozens wounded in the ensuing gun battle.
More praise for the terrorist ambush of Israeli forces came from Fatah spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi, who glorified Jenin terrorists as exhibiting “the loftiest examples of pride and honor”:
Official Fatah Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi: “We ask for mercy for the souls of the Martyrs. With honor and appreciation we salute Jenin, the [Jenin] refugee camp that abounds with honor and sends it to the entire Arab and Islamic nation. This refugee camp that we knew well in the second Intifada and first Intifada, and now too it is demonstrating the loftiest examples of pride and honor, examples of sacrifice and giving.”
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, June 19, 2023]
Osama Al-Qawasmi also serves as Fatah Revolutionary Council member.
The second Intifada/The Al-Aqsa Intifada - Palestinian terror campaign 2000-2005, directed and controlled by the PA, during which Palestinians carried out numerous terror attacks including suicide bombings. More than 1,100 Israelis were murdered.
The first Intifada/The Stone Intifada - Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel 1987-1993, in which approximately 200 Israelis were murdered.
The following are longer excerpts of the statements mentioned above as well as additional Palestinian reports and reactions to the Israeli operation in Jenin:
Posted text: “In the name of All Merciful Allah –
‘And kill them [in battle] wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you’ [Quran 2:191, Sahih International translation]
A military announcement of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (i.e., Fatah’s military wing)
The heroic Jenin battle (refers to Israeli counter-terror operation in Jenin -Ed.) – unity of the arena:
With Allah’s help and might we announce [the launch of] the heroic Jenin battle to provide a response to the occupation forces’ aggression and invasion of Jenin and its refugee camp that is standing firm, alongside the comrades on the path in the Al-Quds Brigades – Jenin Brigade (i.e., a terror group affiliated with Islamic Jihad). We emphasize that our resistance is with the heart of one man in the arena, like a tightened structure. And let the enemy know that the arm of the resistance is long, and it will reach every inch of our land.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – the military wing of the Fatah Movement
Monday, July 3, 2023”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, July 3, 2023]
“[PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that the crimes in Jenin, Nablus, and the Gaza Strip will not bring security to Israel…
In his speech at the start of the [PA] government meeting today, Monday [July 3, 2023], in Ramallah, the prime minister added that Israel has committed a new crime today in the Jenin refugee camp, during which 5 Martyrs have ascended to Heaven as of now, dozens of people have been wounded, and infrastructures and property of innocent residents have been destroyed (refers to Israeli counter-terror operation in which a joint terror headquarters was attacked and terrorists were killed and wounded -Ed.).
He continued: ‘What is happening is a new attempt to erase the refugee camp and uproot its residents. The occupation and its invasionscannot defeat heroic Jenin and its persistent refugee camp. Our heroic people will stand against the aggression that is taking place before the eyes of the international community, as innocents are being bombed by aircraft. Our people will not bend down and will not submit. We will continue the struggle until the criminal occupation passes from the world.’”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 3, 2023]
“Early this morning, Monday [July 3, 2023], Fatah Movement Spokesman Mundhir Al-Hayek said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘is directly supervising the operation of aggression in Jenin’ (refers to Israeli counter-terror operation that began on the night of July 2, 2023 -Ed.).
In statements to [Lebanese] Al-Mayadeen TV, he added: ‘All of the security solutions with which Netanyahu is attempting to achieve profits will not succeed.’
He continued: ‘We say to the Israeli enemy that Fatah, and all the Palestinian factions together with it, will fight in the operation of aggression against Jenin and will thwart it.’
Al-Hayek noted that ‘through the operation of aggression against Jenin, Netanyahu is attempting to divert attention from his internal crises.’”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 3, 2023]
Headline: “Presidency: Israeli army assault on Jenin is another war crime and will not bring stability or security”
“The Palestinian Presidency said today that the Israeli army assault on the northern West Bank city of Jenin is another war crime and that it will not bring security and stability to the region.
The official spokesman for the presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in a statement that ‘what the Israeli occupation government is doing in the city of Jenin and its camp is a new war crime against our defenseless people.’
He stressed that the Palestinian people will not surrender or raise the white flag, but ‘will remain steadfast on their land in the face of this brutal aggression until the occupation is defeated and freedom is achieved.’
Abu Rudeineh stressed that ‘all these crimes committed by the occupation government and its terrorist settlers will not achieve security and stability for them unless our Palestinian people also feel them.’
He called on the international community ‘to break its shameful silence and take serious action to compel Israel to stop its aggression against our Palestinian people, and to hold it accountable for all these crimes.’”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, July 3, 2023]
Headline: “Foreign Ministry calls for urgent international intervention to stop Israel’s aggression against Jenin”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemned today what it described as ‘the barbaric aggression’ of the Israeli occupation army against the northern West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp that so far left four Palestinians dead and more than 30 injured, many of them critically, calling for an urgent international intervention to stop the Israeli aggression.
The Foreign Ministry said in a press statement that this aggression is part of the official Israeli policy of using military force in dealing with the defenseless Palestinian people as an alternative to political solutions to the conflict, holding the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for its repercussions.
It called for urgent international action to immediately stop the aggression, urging the International Criminal Court to break its silence and start holding the Israeli war criminals accountable.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, July 3, 2023]
Headline: “Fattouh: What is happening in Jenin is a massacre and a war crime”
“Palestinian National Council (i.e., legislative body of the PLO) Chairman Rawhi Fattouh said that what is happening in Jenin – the use of heavy military vehicles, the bombing of homes, mosques, and medical centers with missiles, the ascent of Martyrs [to Heaven], and the wounding of dozens – is a massacre, a war crime, and barbaric and ugly aggression that is being committed by the army of the fascist [Israeli] government (refers to Israeli counter-terror operation in which a joint terror headquarters was attacked and terrorists were killed and wounded -Ed.). He added that the racist and Nazi government of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu bears full responsibility…
Fattouh called on the masses of the Palestinian people and its factions to crowd the ranks and support Jenin. He praised the resolve of our people and of its brave resistance, and noted that this legendary resolve will not break.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 3, 2023]
Rawhi Fattouh also serves as Fatah Commissioner of International Relations and Fatah Central Committee member.
Headline: “Abu Al-Rub: The occupation is targeting civilians and destroying infrastructures in the Jenin refugee camp”
“Jenin District Deputy Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub said that the Israeli occupation forces are targeting defenseless civilians in the Jenin refugee camp and are intentionally destroying the infrastructures in the refugee camp (sic., refers to Israeli counter-terror operation in which a joint terror headquarters was targeted and terrorists were killed and wounded).”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 3, 2023]