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Fatah Leaders Says the ‘Next and More Violent Explosion Will Be in the West Bank’
The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
On several recent occasions, top Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub has stressed his and the PA/Fatah’s support for Hamas’ attack, massacre, and atrocities on October 7:
Fatah Movement Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “What happened on Oct. 7 [2023] was an earthquake, an unprecedented incident, and a war of defense full of epics and acts of heroism that the Palestinian people has been waging for 75 years.” [emphasis added]
[Al-Anba, Kuwaiti news website, Nov. 26, 2023]
Moreover, Rajoub has vowed that there will be “an explosion in the West Bank” that will be “more violent” than Hamas’ attack on October 7:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “[October 7] was part of a defensive war by the Palestinians. This will certainly lead to explosions, and the next and more violent explosion will be in the West Bank. …
The explosion that took place on Oct. 7 is a natural response to this [Israeli] terror. Those who are in power in Israel are an example of neo-Nazis … Hamas was, still is, and will remain part of the Palestinian political and national fabric and part of the struggle.
This battle [i.e., Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror war] will be an opening point for achieving Palestinian national unity … Our goal is the establishment of the independent Palestinian state that is fully sovereign over all the Palestinian territories.”
“Rajoub emphasized that what happened on Oct. 7 will be nothing compared to the coming explosions, if there will be no firm international position against this cancer [i.e., Israel].” [emphasis added]
[Al-Anba, Kuwaiti news website, Nov. 26, 2023]
Rajoub has promised that terror — which Palestinians call “resistance” — will continue everywhere:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “There is Israeli aggression [i.e., counter-terror operation against Hamas] against an unarmed people, against a people that is subjected to occupation; every occupation brings about resistance, and resistance will continue in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, and the West Bank.
The continuation of these crimes by the occupation [i.e., Israel] is the start of an explosion in all the Palestinian territories. I say to everyone, the explosion in the West Bank is also coming … It has been clearly revealed that even the American administration is no longer able to contain or provide defense for this aggression, this fascism, this racism, and this Nazism.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Nov. 20, 2023]
Rajoub has also stressed several times that he and the PA/Fatah endorse Hamas and its terror, and as one of the statements above shows, he views the October 7 massacre as an “opening point for achieving Palestinian national unity.”
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.” [emphasis added]
[Al-Anba, Kuwaiti news website, Nov. 26, 2023]
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “I expect of all the Palestinians in any battle — unite, unite, unite, Palestinians.Forget the story of Fatah, Hamas, Islam, or Christianity, forget [it]. We are in a battle that is targeting us all.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Nov. 21, 2023]
Like many other PA and Fatah leaders, Rajoub justifies Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7, claiming it was a Palestinian defensive response to Israel’s “neo-Nazi government” targeting the entire “Palestinian state’s existence”:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The Israeli fascist right-wing is telling you that its declared goals are to eliminate Hamas and so on and so forth, and the rest of this idle chatter, but its undeclared goals are to bury the idea of the Palestinian state’s existence …
Therefore, they are targeting everything that is Palestinian, whether it is in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and even the 2 million Palestinians who are inside Israel…” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Nov. 19, 2023]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed numerous statements over many years by Rajoub that show he supports terror against Israel.
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
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Syrian Christian Leader Chides President Over Deadly Church Bombing
People attend the funeral of victims of a suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Church on Sunday, in Damascus, Syria, June 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s top Christian leader said on Tuesday at the funeral for victims of a deadly church bombing that President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government bore responsibility for not protecting minorities and his condolences were insufficient.
At least 25 worshippers died on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus, the first such attack since Sharaa’s Islamist-led government seized power in December after the Assad family dynasty’s toppling.
The attack, which the government blamed on the Islamic State terrorist group, reinforced doubts among minorities about whether they can rely on government assurances of protection.
“With love and with all due respect Mr. President, you spoke yesterday by phone … to express your condolences. That is not enough for us,” the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, John (X) Yazigi, said at the funeral, drawing applause.
“We are grateful for the phone call. But the crime that took place is a little bigger than that.”
Christians made up around 10 percent of Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million, but their numbers shrunk significantly during the 14-year conflict, mainly through emigration. Only a few hundred thousand are now estimated to be living in Syria.
Yazigi said the government must prioritize protection for all. “What is important to me – and I will say it – is that the government bears responsibility in full,” Yazigi said of the church attack.
Hundreds were at the service in the nearby Church of the Holy Cross to bury nine of the victims, whose bodies were placed in simple white coffins adorned with white flowers.
Social affairs minister Hind Kabawat – the only Christian and only woman in Syria’s new government – attended.
On Monday, Sharaa said the attack was a crime hurting all Syrians but did not use the word “Christians” or “church.”
The government said security forces raided hideouts used by Islamic State, killing two of its members including one who facilitated the suicide bomber’s entry into Mar Elias Church.
IS did not issue a statement of responsibility.
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Montana Tucker Honors Israeli Courage, Resilience in New Dance Video Filmed on Masada
Montana Tucker at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. Photo: Dan MacMedan / USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
Jewish-American activist, dancer, and social media influencer Montana Tucker released on Monday a dance video filmed at Masada that honors the bravery and resilience of Jewish people throughout history and Israelis amid the Israel-Iran war.
The video, produced by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), was filmed during Tucker’s solidarity trip to Israel in May, which was her sixth visit to the Jewish state since the deadly Hamas terrorist attack more than a year and a half ago on Oct. 7, 2023. Tucker shared the dance video on social media.
“From the Romans and Persians, to the Nazis, Hamas, Hezbollah, and now the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Jewish people have faced countless enemies. And yet, we endure. We rise,” she wrote in the caption. “Today, I dance at Masada — a symbol of Jewish courage and defiance. I dedicate this moment to the heroes of Israel: the pilots defending the skies, the soldiers guarding the borders, and the millions standing strong in bomb shelters. Am Yisrael Chai. We WILL rise again.”
Masada was a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert in southeastern Israel. It became a final holdout of Jewish rebels standing against the Roman Empire following the destruction of Jerusalem
Tucker and a group of dancers from the Lilach Friedman Dance Center in Israel danced on Masada to a track that included lyrics of “Rise Again” by EV!
“Break down my walls/but I will rise again. Cuz I stand tall/ in my environment,” the artist sings. “How could I ever close my eyes/ and stay silent since/they tried to take me down/with their violence.”
Tucker and CAM have collaborated on a number of projects since the Oct. 7 attacks, including the video “We Can Dance Again,” filmed at the site of the Nova music festival massacre in memory of the 364 music lovers murdered at the event, “I’m a Survivor,” drawing awareness to hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, “Woman, Life, Freedom,” about Iranian women resisting oppression, and “The Music Never Stopped,” which marked Israel’s 77th Independence Day.
During her most recent trip to Israel, Tucker met with former Hamas hostages Emily Damari and Romi Gonen, who each spent 471 days in captivity after being abducted on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Yemen’s Houthis Likely to Be Persistent Problem for US, Senior Military Official Says
Houthi policemen ride on the back of a patrol pick-up truck during the funeral of Houthi terrorists killed by recent US-led strikes, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement will likely be a persistent problem for the US in the future, a senior US military official said on Tuesday, even after Washington and the Houthis reached an agreement last month that ended a US air campaign against the terrorist group.
“The Houthis are likely to be a persistent problem … that we’ll be dealing with in the future a few times again,” Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, director for operations of the Joint Staff, told lawmakers. Grynkewich has been nominated to lead the US military‘s European Command.
Last month, President Donald Trump announced the US would stop bombing the Houthis, who had been firing at US warships and commercial vessels off Yemen’s coast. The group, which had said it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, stopped firing at US ships under the agreement.
Rights groups had voiced concerns about civilian casualties during the nearly two-month-old US bombing campaign in Yemen.
Last week, the Houthis said they would again target US ships in the Red Sea if Washington became involved in Israeli attacks on Iran. Still, they have not resumed attacks after the US struck three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.
On Monday, Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire deal.
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