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Hebron Residents Want to Live in Peace with Israel; Palestinian Authority Calls It an ‘Israeli Plan’
People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Earlier this week, Palestinian Media Watch reported on Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari’s plan to abolish the Palestinian Authority (PA) and establish family-run emirates that would recognize Israel.
Although the PA issued no official response a few days ago — and still has not done so today — it is already mounting a counter-campaign: recasting the idea as an Israeli initiative rather than a proposal from Hebron’s influential Jaabari clan.
On Tuesday, official PA TV hosted Palestinian journalist Zahir Abu Hamda, who dismissed the plan as an Israeli creation without mentioning the Jaabari family:
The Israeli plan regarding the West Bank is very dangerous, because they want to establish Palestinian emirates in the West Bank, meaning municipalities of limited size, without political backing, meaning there is no Palestinian state and no Palestinian government. There will be an emirate in Hebron, an emirate in Jenin, in Bethlehem, in other places, controlled by families.”
[Official PA TV, July 8 2025]
The PA apparently anticipated the announcement; before it was made public, PA TV broadcast a news flash — again portraying the idea as Israeli-driven:
The Minister of Economy in the occupation government, Nir Barkat, calls for the dismantling of the [Palestinian] National Authority.
[Palestinian television, July 4 2025]
The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, noted that Barkat has met several times with the Hebron sheikhs and served as Israel’s interlocutor on the proposal.
After a statement and video was released by several Jaabari family members denouncing Sheikh Wadee’s plan, his supporters pointed out that every speaker in the clip was a current or former PA employee — effectively making the video the PA’s rebuttal rather than the clan’s.
Elliot Kaufman of The Wall Street Journal, who published the original report, shared the supporters’ statement on X (formerly Twitter):
The Palestinian Authority managed to issue a statement condemning Sheikh Jaabari’s position—which promotes its [the PA’s] dismantling—through an establishment figure named Arif Jaabari (Abu Basel), who previously served as governor of Hebron and Jericho on behalf of the PA. He was joined by a few other family members who are institutionally connected to the PA, such as senior municipality official Yusuf Jaabari and Nafeth Haidar Jaabari, who has working ties with the governor’s office, as well as a few others from the family with similar affiliations… Nevertheless, the vast majority of the Jaabari family — along with dozens of sheikhs representing most of the families in Hebron and its surroundings—stand firmly behind Sheikh Wadee’ Jaabari and his historic, just, and necessary initiative to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and establish the Hebron Emirate.
The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Hebron Residents Want to Live in Peace with Israel; Palestinian Authority Calls It an ‘Israeli Plan’ 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.