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Amid Hostage Murders and West Bank Terror Attacks, PA Urges ‘Resistance … in All Forms, By All Means’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, July 26, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Palestinian Presidents’ Office
Over the weekend, three Israelis were murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in a drive-by shooting near Hebron. On Friday, Palestinian terrorists attempted two car bomb attacks in Gush Etzion, south of Bethlehem. Both cars exploded prematurely after the terrorists were confronted, and then killed, by Israeli security forces. On Monday, another car bombing was attempted by terrorists and was discovered before it could be detonated next to an Israeli vehicle.
Only last Wednesday, Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor — Mahmoud Al-Habbash — encouraged Palestinians to do exactly what the terrorists promptly did — kill Jews.
After falsely accusing Israel of attempting to empty both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of Palestinians, he instructed Palestinians that “the only option” is to use “all forms and means” of “resistance” — a well-known Palestinian euphemism for the use of terror:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “They [i.e. Israel] want to take control of as much territory with as few [Palestinian] residents as possible. The same reason Israel is using for the aggression against the Gaza Strip, it is also using for the aggression against the West Bank …
Our only option is the resistance, resisting these Israeli attempts in all forms, by all means. Anything that could thwart this Israeli plot is our legal right.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Aug. 28, 2024]
Al-Habbash’s call for terror joins numerous other calls for terror and “intifada” by top PA and Fatah officials, as Palestinian Media Watch has repeatedly exposed.
Al-Habbash often stresses that the Palestinians are a “people of Jihad” — “holy war” — as he did here when he emphasized that “Palestine is giving its blood abundantly for your sake, nation of Islam”:
Al-Habbash: “Our religion is the religion of tolerance and the religion of human brotherhood. But we are also the people of Jihad and the people of force against those who deserve it from us and against those who want to harm our dignity, desecrate our holy sites, or deprive our rights…
Palestine is giving its blood abundantly for your sake, nation of Islam. [emphasis added]
Al-Habbash, Facebook page, July 30, 2024]
Al-Habbash also called for “holy war” all over Israel, teaching that “the land of Palestine is a land of … Jihad until Judgement Day.”
He promises Israel will be replaced by “Palestine,” saying “Palestine will return and be liberated, sooner or later.”
Statements such as these may have inspired the Palestinian suicide bomber from Nablus who carried out a car bombing in Tel Aviv two weeks ago on Aug. 18, 2024:
Al-Habbash: “Your best Jihad is Ribat [i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic], and your best Ribat is Ashkelon.
Where is Ashkelon? Ashkelon is a city in Palestine [sic., an Israeli coastal city], and the land of Palestine is a land of Ribat and Jihad until Judgement Day. His [Prophet Muhammad’s] dear followers came while carrying out Jihad for Allah to Palestine and Greater Syria, and they liberated it from the Byzantine occupation. Saladin liberated it from the Crusader occupation. And today it will be liberated [again], Allah willing. Palestine will return and be liberated, sooner or later.” [emphasis added]
[Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Aug. 9, 2024]
Al-Habbash: ‘‘’Your best Jihad is Ribat, and your best Ribat is in Ashkelon. Where is Ashkelon? It’s the coast of Palestine. These Palestinian coastal cities, which were built by the Palestinians, this land here, it was theirs thousands of years ago, even before our lord Abraham came.This land belonged to the Palestinians, and it still belongs to the Palestinians, and it will belong to the Palestinians.
And the final picture — I see it like I’m seeing you — is Palestinian par excellence. This is the promise of Prophet [Muhammad], and this is the promise of Allah. The Gaza Strip today is the sister of Ashkelon … No one has a connection to the Al-Buraq Wall [i.e., the Western Wall] except for the Muslims, absolutely! Our lord Solomon was not here, his kingdom was not even here. And even if it was here, Solomon is a Muslim, on the path of Muhammad and Abraham [the Muslim].” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV Live, Feb.9, 2024]
Itamar Marcus is Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Amid Hostage Murders and West Bank Terror Attacks, PA Urges ‘Resistance … in All Forms, By All Means’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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