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PA-Hamas Unity: PA Already Doing Propaganda for Hamas
Smoke billows over the city of Khan Younis in Gaza during an IDF ground assault. Photo: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Even before the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas have formalized a unification that both sides are calling for, but will certainly take time, the PA is already acting as a propaganda arm for Hamas, by demonizing Israel, defending Hamas’ actions as self-defense, and presenting Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists as a war of “genocide” against innocent civilians.
One prime example are the PA’s regular casualty announcements, which are precise down to the single individual when it comes to PA/Hamas claims of civilian casualties, but according to the PA’s official announcements, none of those killed by Israel were Hamas terrorists.
For example, on Monday, the PA released a detailed list with 34 categories including killed, wounded, sick, and missing. The details are striking: 32,295 martyred and missing, of which 25,295 were martyrs who reached the hospitals, 11,000 child martyrs, 7,500 female martyrs, 337 medical staff martyrs, 119 journalist martyrs, and in all 34 categories with precise details. However, the PA does not list even one Hamas terrorist or even a member of Hamas among the killed, injured, or captured. For the PA, they are all innocent martyrs.
This is consistent with the PA defense of Hamas since the start of the war, when on the very first day, Mahmoud Abbas already declared the attack as a justified attack of self-defense. Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash said it more precisely: the war was justified because of the seven decades of “occupation,” meaning since Israel was created.
The united front with Hamas that the PA has adopted during the war, will be helpful in establishing the PA-Hamas unity. Another call for unity came this week, by Fahmi Al-Za’arir — Secretary of the Palestinian National Council:
“Unity is the necessary transition to victory, and it is the law of victory for every revolution in the world. And any revolution in the world that has internal disputes during the stage of national liberation, its path is delayed… The Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad have not objected to being under the framework of the PLO since 1989 and not only now.“
[Official PA TV, Jan. 2, 2024]
The following is the official PA government announcement of “the most important statistics of the genocidal war waged by the ‘Israeli’ occupation.” (Parenthetically, it should be noted that the PA announcement put the word “Israeli” in quotation marks, as part of its non-recognition of Israel. In spite of its public statements to the international community, non-recognition of Israel remains a fundamental component of PA ideology.)
“The Government Media Office is publishing an update on the most important statistics of the genocidal war waged by the “Israeli” occupation on the Gaza Strip – Monday, January 22, 2024
(108) days of the genocidal war.
(2,119) massacres committed by the Israeli army.
(32,295) martyred and missing.
(25,295) martyrs who reached the hospitals.
(11,000) child martyrs.
(7,500) female martyrs.
(337) martyrs from medical staff.
(45) martyr from civil defense.
(119) martyr of the journalists.
(7,000) are missing, 70% of them children and women.
(63,000) injured.
(11,000) wounded need to travel for “life-saving and dangerous” treatment.
(10,000) cancer patients face the risk of death.
(400,000) infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement.
(8,000) cases of viral hepatitis infection due to displacement.
(60,000) pregnant women are at risk due to the lack of health care.
(350,000) chronic patients are at risk due to the lack of medication.
(99) cases of arrest among health workers.
(10) arrests of well-known journalists.
)2( million displaced people in the Gaza Strip.
(140) government headquarters destroyed by the occupation.
(99) schools and universities completely destroyed by the occupation.
(295) schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation.
(161) mosques completely destroyed by the occupation.
(253) mosques partially destroyed by the occupation.
(3) churches targeted and destroyed by the occupation.
(70,000) housing units completely destroyed by the occupation.
(290,000) housing units partially destroyed by the occupation and uninhabitable.
(65,000) tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza.
(30) Hospitals taken out of service by the occupation.
(53) health centers that the occupation took out of service.
(150) health institutions were partially targeted by the occupation.
(122) An ambulance destroyed by the occupation army.
(200) archaeological and heritage sites destroyed by the occupation.
Government Media Office – Monday, January 22, 2024″
The author is the founder and executive director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
The post PA-Hamas Unity: PA Already Doing Propaganda for Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.