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‘Moderate’ Palestinian Authority Supports Hamas Decision to Keep Israelis Hostage
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, Sept. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The IDF announced this week that Capt. Omer Neutra, a US citizen, was confirmed to have been killed on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken hostage to Gaza.
Significantly, the Palestinian Authority (PA) fully supports Hamas’ abduction tactics of October 7.
Ever since Fatah — the PA’s ruling party — kidnapped 8 Israeli soldiers in 1982 and exchanged them for 4,700 terrorist prisoners in 1983, it has talked about hostage-taking as a legitimate tactic.
After Hamas succeeded in exchanging kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for 1,027 imprisoned terrorists in 2011, including then Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas praised them:
Hamas kidnapped a soldier (i.e., Shalit) and managed to keep him for five years — that’s a good thing.”
[Official PA TV, Oct. 24, 2011]
Similarly, this year on the anniversary of the kidnapping of the 8 soldiers in 1982, the PA/Fatah celebrated and presented Hamas’ kidnapping of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, as an opportunity to free all the terrorists in prison.
Top Fatah official Jibril Rajoub emphasized that Fatah still celebrates the same terror tactics today. Rajoub confirmed that the release of all imprisoned Palestinian terrorists is what the PA/Fatah — just like Hamas — demand in exchange for the release of the Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped by Hamas and other terror organizations on Oct. 7, 2023:
[Fatah] Central Committee Secretary [Jibril Rajoub] demanded that Japan take action on all levels and in all circles to pressure the occupation state (i.e., Israel) to reach a ceasefire agreement and the release of all the captives from both sides.
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Sept. 3, 2024]
Rajoub invoked this Palestinian “logic” of exchanging all the hostages for all the terrorist prisoners already in June, insisting on “everyone in exchange for everyone”:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “There are two goals. The first goal is to stop -”
Host: “The [Israeli] aggression.”
Jibril Rajoub: “The second is the prisoner exchange – a prisoner exchange under the logic of everyone in exchange for everyone. I tell everyone: If one [Palestinian] prisoner remains – and I’m certain that the motive for 150% of October 7 is that they [Hamas] want the prisoners (i.e., terrorists) – this is an open wound… Whoever wants to end this issue needs to go for everything in exchange for everything.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, June 21, 2024]
Speaking in the name of Abbas following the Shalit exchange deal, Rajoub “saluted” the Hamas kidnappers:
Rajoub: “We salute those who dug the tunnel [to kidnap Gilad Shalit]; we salute those who captured the captive (i.e., Gilad Shalit), and salute those who guarded the captive until this deal was completed.”
[Official PA TV, Oct. 30, 2011]
While most of the current Israeli hostages are civilians, Rajoub has falsely claimed they “are not hostages” but “soldiers arrested by the Palestinian fighters,” as reported by Palestinian Media Watch:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The Palestinian prisoners should be released [in exchange] for the Israeli prisoners who are in the custody of Hamas (i.e., Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7). [We] should have a prisoner of war exchange…”
South African SABC News interviewer: “Israel is demanding an immediate release of those who have been taken hostage by Hamas.”
Jibril Rajoub: “Those are not hostages. Most of those are Israeli soldiers and they were arrested by the Palestinian fighters. The civilians who were at the beginning already have been released.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Feb. 22, 2024]
The currently imprisoned Palestinian terrorists themselves believe they will be released in exchange for Israeli hostages, as is evident from the following statement by a young Fatah prisoner, who was released in the terrorist-hostage exchange deal following October 7:
Released terrorist prisoner: “From the moment the war began [i.e., 2023 Gaza war], we [i.e., imprisoned terrorists] knew that we would be released.
When we were in prison, we weren’t worried because we knew that behind us there are men and the noble people of the Gaza Strip, great guys who can be counted on. There’s no one like the resistance members, may Allah protect them and strengthen them.” [emphasis added]
[“Fateh_Pal65,” X account, Nov. 28, 2023]
Likewise, in November 2023, a PA TV political commentator expressed the expectation that the world would pressure Israel to agree to a hostage exchange for all imprisoned Palestinian terrorists:
Official PA TV political commentator Riyad Helles: “… The pressure will lead to a comprehensive agreement that will include all the prisoners (i.e., Israeli and foreign hostages) who are with the Palestinian resistance and all the [Palestinian] prisoners (i.e., terrorists) in the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities.”
[Official PA TV, Nov. 22, 2023]
In September this year, Fatah celebrated the anniversary of the 1982 hostage-taking as “a great joy,” emphasizing the cleverness of “the plan”:
Awdah TV host: “It was a black night and a great joy when Fatah’s self-sacrificing fighters succeeded in capturing 8 [Israeli] soldiers, which was the first step towards the largest prisoner exchange deal known in Palestinian history.
On Sept. 4, 1982, and with the blessings and guidance of late [PLO Chairman and PA] President Yasser Arafat and Prince of Martyrs and Al-Asifa Forces Deputy General Commander Khalil Al-Wazir ‘Abu Jihad’ (i.e., terrorist, responsible for murder of 125), a squad of self-sacrificing fighters set out with Kalashnikovs. When the zero hour came, the commander of the squad, fighter Issa Hajo, set out towards the Israeli patrol claiming he was from the Lebanese Phalanges Party. He spoke with them in French… to divert their attention and make it easier for the rest of his comrades to complete the plan.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Sept. 4, 2024]
The implication of all these Fatah and Hamas statements is that previous terrorist releases were precedents, and therefore Fatah supports Hamas holding the Israeli hostages until many, if not all, Palestinian terrorists in prison are released in an exchange deal.
The authors are the founder and senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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