PA goal: Unity with Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations

PA goal: Unity with Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations

• Speaking in name of Mahmoud Abbas, top PA official calls on terror organizations to unite with PA
   
• PA and Fatah’s “hands are extended, hearts are open” to Hamas to unite
   
• PA won’t rule Gaza without Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations
   
• Hamas is “part of the fabric of our struggle”
   
• Oct. 7 massacre was “a great earthquake” and “battle of heroism”
   
• Terror organizations will unite under the PLO/PA
   
• PA Chairman Abbas asked for meeting with Hamas

While many question what will happen and who will rule the Gaza Strip after Israel has destroyed Hamas’ terror infrastructure, the PA’s Fatah leaders are confident that the PA /Fatah will unite with Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations and together will rule Gaza. 

Some PA and Fatah leaders have been adamant about joining forces with the terror organizations. Jibril Rajoub, a top PA official and Fatah Central Committee Secretary, speaking in the name of Mahmoud Abbas, the PA leadership, and the PLO Executive Committee, has repeatedly stressed the PA’s goal of uniting with Hamas and Islamic Jihad – which he whitewashes as “political Islam” - against Israel:

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub calls for unity:

“We say to our brothers in Hamas: We stand before a great turning point… The time has come for us [Fatah and Hamas] to reach a compromise. I call on them, on behalf of the Palestinian [PA] leadership, [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas, and the PLO Executive Committee – we say to them [Hamas]:Come build a political rapprochement regarding the international project, and build rapprochement regarding the struggle around a strategic option that could reap these achievements, which include an international turning point in world opinion about us and about our cause… We say to our brothers in Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement – the ball is in your court”

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page,
Dec. 17, 2023]

Rajoub: PA won’t rule Gaza without Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations.

Jibril Rajoub: “Political Islam (i.e., Hamas) has been part of our political and social fabric and the fabric of our struggle, and it still is, and it will remain, period. …We will not go to [govern] the Gaza Strip without national agreement that will include political Islam, whether it is our brothers in Hamas or our brothers in [Islamic] Jihad. This is impossible.”

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page,
Dec. 14, 2023]

Rajoub: Hamas is “part of the fabric of our struggle”

Jibril Rajoub: “We view political Islam, and foremost among it the Hamas Movement, as part of the fabric of our struggle and our political and social fabric. We must preserve our achievements, we are a liberation project, and we are all potential Martyrs.”

[Al-Anba, Kuwaiti news website, Nov. 26, 2023]

Rajoub: Oct. 7 massacre was a “battle of heroism” 

Jibril Rajoub: “We hope that our brothers in Hamas will do a political rapprochement, a rapprochement regarding the struggle, and an organizational rapprochement, so that we will reach a compromise… What happened on Oct. 7 [2023] (i.e., Hamas’ massacre) was a great earthquake and returned the Palestinian cause to the global agenda… Fatah and [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas – despite all the pressures, and perhaps a number of things happened that didn’t have to happen – we have not condemned and not denounced [Hamas’ attack], and we have also not closed the door of unity on our brothers in political Islam.We say to them: We view you as part of the social fabric, the fabric of the struggle, and the Palestinian political and national fabric.”

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page,
Dec. 16, 2023]

“Rajoub said that ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation (i.e., Hamas' name for its massacre and terror war against Israel) and the Palestinian resistance’s attack on Oct. 7 [2023], which Hamas’ military wing, the Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, launched against the occupation’s settlements (sic., towns in sovereign Israel), is ‘an additional battle of heroism and a war of defense in the 75-year history of the Palestinian resistance.’ He added that the Palestinians need to make collective decisions through joint support for the resistance (i.e., terror).’”

[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 22, 2023]

Rajoub stresses terror organizations will unite under the PLO/PA

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The PLO [is] the sole legitimate representative of the [Palestinian] people. This is an achievement that we will not relinquish. Of course, the PLO needs reorganization so that it will become the umbrella organization of all the Palestinians and of all the national action factions, including the [factions of] political Islam… The PA… also needs a reexamination, so that it will be a national unity government that will be responsible for all the Palestinians in all the Palestinian territories.”

[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 14, 2023]

This was echoed by Fatah official Muhammad Al-Hourani:

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Hourani: “We believe Hamas that it is taking action for the freedom of the land. Therefore we, Hamas, and all the Palestinian factions must think deeply and seriously about realizing the unity of the Palestinian arena under the flag of the PLO.”

[Al-Arabiya TV (Saudi Arabia), YouTube channel, Dec. 27, 2023]

Another top PA official who has called for unity with Hamas is PA leader Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash. Throughout the war, PMW has exposed Al-Habbash’s emphasis on the PA’s support for Hamas and its massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, and its continued war against Israel – a support he has garnished with antisemitic teachings about Jews.

Al-Habbash: PA and Fatah’s “hands are extended, hearts are open” to Hamas to unite:

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash:

“The occupation (i.e., Israel) is the cause of every problem… Now more than ever, we need to end the matter of the internal [Fatah-Hamas] conflict. Our hands are extended, our hearts are open, and our chests are open to every Palestinian voice that wants to put the internal Palestinian home in order, because this is necessary to strengthen our position.”

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Dec. 24, 2023]  

Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “More than ever we must put our internal home in order. The time has come for everyone to once and for all announce the end of the [Fatah-Hamas] rift to unite the Palestinian internal front against this [Israeli] aggression (i.e., the 2023 Gaza war; see note below) that is directed against all the Palestinians.”

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Dec. 12, 2023]  

PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh repeated Abbas’ support for Hamas, stressing Abbas defended Hamas at the UN by claiming it is “not a terror organization”:

“Hamas is not a terror movement,” PLO official cites PA Chairman Abbas’ defense of Hamas 

Al-Jazeera TV interviewer: “A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) showed Palestinian support for the Resistance (i.e., Hamas) and a regression in the popularity of the PA, and President Abbas in particular. How do you view this, considering that you have stated that Hamas is not a role model?” …

PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh: “I didn’t say that Hamas is not a role model… When the world spoke and demanded that Hamas be defined as a terror movement – who set out against the world? Was it not Mahmoud Abbas, who stood at the UN podium and said: ‘No, Hamas is not a terror movement’! The real terror is the occupation (i.e., Israel). The real terror is the settlement enterprise.”

[Former Head of Fatah Commission of Information and Culture’s Information Office Munir Al-Jaghoub, X (Twitter) account, Dec. 19, 2023]

Right from the beginning of the war, immediately after Hamas’ massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, PMW has reported on PA officials around the world expressing support for the Oct 7 terror attack. Another example is PLO Ambassador to South Africa Hanan Jarrar:

PLO Ambassador to South Africa Hanan Jarrar (in English): “As Palestinians we are one. Hamas, Fatah, [Islamic] Jihad, other political parties, either in the Left or the Right - we are one, we are Palestinians, and this is democracy… So why when it comes to Palestine we have to denounce one of our political factions (i.e., Hamas), that according to international law they are doing the right thing? International law says that when any country is under occupation, they have all the right to use all the measures, instruments available to defend themselves... The Palestinian leadership has been subjected to numerous and huge pressure to denounce what's going on right now, and we are not denouncing it and we will never ever denounce a major component of our people defending the interest of the Palestinian people.”

[Hilaal TV (South Africa), YouTube channel, Oct. 11, 2023]

Top PLO official Rawhi Fattouh emphasized PA Chairman Abbas’ instructions of continued financial support to Hamas-ruled Gaza, promising to prioritize “sending” money there. Rawhi Fattouh made this statement in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the PA cannot take control of the Gaza Strip following the 2023 Gaza war, given that the PA pays salaries to terrorists and refuses to condemn Hamas’ massacre in Israel on Oct. 7. 

Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh: “As [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas noted at a conference and also before the Palestinian [PA] leadership, if we are left with one penny we will send it to the Gaza Strip. Neither [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu nor anyone else will stop us from spending money on our residents and our people in the Gaza Strip…Therefore, we Palestinians, our position is unified and united, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are one body.”

[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Nov. 12, 2023]

Continued financial support for Hamas-ruled Gaza has also been stressed by PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: 

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “We did not relinquish the Gaza Strip, and we will not relinquish the Gaza Strip, because they are our people… We are giving the Gaza Strip $1.7 billion from the Palestinian [PA] budget per year, which we spend on the Gaza Strip.”

[Al-Araby TV (Qatar-based), YouTube channel, Dec. 10, 2023]

Similarly, senior PLO/Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad stated he had “received instructions from Abbas to make contact with Hamas”:

“Senior PLO official Azzam Al-Ahmad informed [Saudi state-owned] Al-Arabiya TV that he received instructions from Palestinian [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas to make contact with Hamas.

Al-Ahmad… made contact with [Hamas Political Bureau member] Musa Abu Marzouq and [Hamas Political Bureau Chairman] Ismail Haniyeh, and expressed hope of holding an additional conversation with Haniyeh…

He added that the PLO did not set conditions for entering an agreement with the other Palestinian sides… He also noted that all the factions need to be under the PLO framework.”

[Al-Arabiya TV website (Saudi Arabia), Dec. 15, 2023]

Others have also shown their connection to terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad – their “brothers” – and called for unity, stating that there are “no disagreements between Hamas and Fatah”:

Fatah Jenin Branch Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh: “In the name of all the national and Islamic forces we announce a general strike in all aspects of life, in all of Palestine. Here are the brothers from the Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Hamas.”

[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Oct. 31, 2023]

Fatah Spokesman Jamal Nazzal: “Currently there are no disagreements between Hamas and Fatah. We now agree that a ceasefire is the joint goal (i.e., in the 2023 Gaza war; see note below)… From the moment that a ceasefire will be achieved, we must outline a joint political plan and a joint path that will unite us, and through which we will draw conclusions from the recent past. This is the goal that we will put on the table the moment the ceasefire is achieved.”

[Al-Jazeera TV, YouTube channel, Dec. 24, 2023]

Fatah official calls for Fatah-Hamas unity “because after the Gaza Strip [the Israelis] will move on to the West Bank” 

Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki:

“What is needed now after Oct. 7 [2023] (i.e., Hamas’ invasion and massacre of Israel) is to reexamine all the policies and to have a new strategy whose basis is Palestinian unity. I think the door has been opened so that we will all be united, because after the Gaza Strip they [the Israelis] will move on to the West Bank.”

[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, Nov. 17, 2023]

Palestinian civilians in the West Bank have also expressed their support for Hamas and their desire for Hamas rule:

West Bankers praise Hamas, call for terror: “Actions… that will restore the glory to the religion… Death for Allah”

The video shows celebrations in Nablus for female prisoners released in a prisoner exchange deal starting on Nov. 24, 2023, between Israel and Hamas during the 2023 Gaza war, in which terrorist prisoners were released in exchange for Israeli hostages. The crowd is seen waving green Hamas flags.

Posted text: “Calls of support for the Resistance (i.e., Hamas) at the reception in Nablus for the released female prisoners in the exchange deal.”

Crowd: “The people wants the [Izz A-Din] Al-Qassam Brigades (i.e., Hamas’ military wing), the people wants the Al-Qassam Brigades… Allahu Akbar (i.e., “Allah is greatest”)… We have risen up for Allah… We want actions… that will restore the glory to the religion… Death for Allah… Your men will be blessed, O Hamas… [Yahya] Al-Sinwar (i.e., Hamas terror leader) upheld his promise… Your constitution is the Quran… Place sword on sword, we are the people of Muhammad Deif (i.e., Hamas terror leader).”

[“Nablus Post,” Telegram channel, Nov. 25, 2023]

PMW has exposed similar calls in support for Hamas by students in the West Bank.
 

The following are longer excerpts of some of the statements cited above:

Excerpt of interview with Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub by Independent Turkish, the Turkish version of the UK paper The Independent.

“Ramallah – [independent Palestinian news agency] Ma’an …

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub:] We in the Fatah Movement think that this [Israeli] aggression (i.e., the 2023 Gaza war), which is targeting the entire Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause, … necessitates us all to view the [Hamas-Fatah] rift as finished and to get over it. Currently we are striving to develop practical mechanisms that will realize the homeland’s unity, the people’s unity, the cause’s unity, and the unity of the leadership and the decision-making.

Our contacts with the Hamas Movement have not stopped, whether they have been managed directly, through the national action factions, or through regional sides. We expect that our brothers in Hamas will take action to formulate a political, struggle-based, and organizational approach as a strategic choice that will protect a series of national achievements, which have turned into facts and axioms from the perspective of the entire international community, and foremost among them is the independent Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories that were occupied in 1967 and its capital Jerusalem…

An additional matter is the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the [Palestinian] people. This is an achievement that we will not relinquish. Of course, the PLO needs reorganization so that it will become the umbrella organization of all the Palestinians and of all the national action factions, including the [factions of] political Islam…

Another matter is the PA, …which also needs a reexamination, so that it will be a national unity government that will be responsible for all the Palestinians in all the Palestinian territories.”

[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 14, 2023]

Jibril Rajoub also serves as Head of the PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).

Headline: “Rajoub: ‘The Al-Aqsa Flood’ is a battle of heroism, Hamas is part of the Palestinian social fabric”

“Fatah Movement Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub called on Turkey to mediate in the reconciliation talks with the Hamas Movement…

During his latest visit to Istanbul a few days ago, Rajoub told the Turkish paper Yeni Şafak that Ankara needs to mediate between Hamas and Fatah to strengthen the Palestinian political unity…

Rajoub also announced that he asked the senior Turkish officials ‘to encourage our brothers in Hamas to reexamine the situation from a political perspective,’ and added that Fatah thinks that ‘Hamas is part of the Palestinian social fabric.’

Rajoub said that ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation (Hamas' name for its terror war against Israel; see note below -Ed.) and the Palestinian resistance’s attack on Oct. 7 [2023] (i.e., Hamas’ invasion and massacre to launch its terror war), which Hamas’ military wing, the Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, launched against the occupation’s settlements (sic., towns in sovereign Israel), is ‘an additional battle of heroism and a war of defense in the 75-year history of the Palestinian resistance.’

He added that the Palestinians need to make collective decisions through joint support for the resistance, and that it is necessary ‘to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN, and the entire world that the Palestinian state exists.’ He told the Turkish paper that ‘this cannot happen without national unity.’”

[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 22, 2023]

Headline: “Senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad to Al-Arabiya [TV]: Abbas asked to make contact with Hamas”

“Senior PLO official Azzam Al-Ahmad informed [Saudi state-owned] Al-Arabiya TV that he received instructions from Palestinian [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas to make contact with Hamas.

Al-Ahmad revealed that he made contact with [Hamas Political Bureau member] Musa Abu Marzouq and [Hamas Political Bureau Chairman] Ismail Haniyeh, and expressed hope of holding an additional conversation with Haniyeh…

He added that the PLO did not set conditions for entering an agreement with the other Palestinian sides, and he emphasized that the PLO is ready for a meeting in Cairo.

He also noted that all the factions need to be under the PLO framework.”

[Al-Arabiya TV website (Saudi Arabia), Dec. 15, 2023]

Azzam Al-Ahmad also serves as PLO Executive Committee member, head of the PLO Department of Arab and Parliamentary Affairs, Fatah Central Committee member, Fatah Commissioner of National Relations, and Fatah Commissioner for Relations with Lebanon.

Video title: “[Fatah Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member] Jamal Nazzal: Currently there are no disagreements between Hamas and Fatah and our goal is shared.”

Fatah Spokesman Jamal Nazzal: “Currently there are no disagreements between Hamas and Fatah. We now agree that a ceasefire is the joint goal (i.e., in the 2023 Gaza war; see note below)… From the moment that a ceasefire will be achieved, we must outline a joint political plan and a joint path that will unite us, and through which we will draw conclusions from the recent past. This is the goal that we will put on the table the moment the ceasefire is achieved.”

[Al-Jazeera TV, YouTube channel, Dec. 24, 2023]

Video title: “The Fatah Movement to [Saudi] Al-Arabiya TV: Iran is using Palestinian blood as a card to demonstrate its influence”

(The following is a response to Hamas denying an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman saying Hamas committed its Oct. 7, 2023 invasion and massacre as part of a response to the assassination of IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani; see note below -Ed.)

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Hourani: “We believe Hamas that it is taking action for the freedom of the land. Therefore we, Hamas, and all the Palestinian factions must think deeply and seriously about realizing the unity of the Palestinian arena under the flag of the PLO.”

[Al-Arabiya TV (Saudi Arabia), YouTube channel, Dec. 27, 2023]

Fattouh also serves as Fatah Commissioner of International Relations and Fatah Central Committee member.

Hussein Al-Sheikh also serves as Head of the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department, Fatah Central Committee member, and Head of Civil Affairs in the PA.

Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - At least 1,200 Israelis, including over 1,000 civilians, were murdered and over 4,800 wounded, in addition to approximately 244 who were abducted into the Gaza Strip (including 110 later released or liberated and at least 26 later killed), in a Hamas terror war that began when approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns and attacking a music festival on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. During the massacre the terrorists tortured, raped, shot, beheaded, and burned their victims alive, murdering entire families and leaving at least 21 children without parents. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers. In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north. Occasional rocket launches and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout the war. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal began on Nov. 24, 2023, in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas. The deal was subsequently extended with additional releases, until Hamas violated the agreement and resumed attacking on Dec. 1, 2023.