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PA/Fatah Encourage Terror: Use ‘All Possible Means to Defend Our Land’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visiting the West Bank city of Jenin. Photo: Reuters/Mohamad Torokman
The Palestinian lexicon is rich in words and phrases for terrorism.
Words that sound innocent are known by everyone to imply terror — for example, “resistance” and “struggle with all means.” (See below.) The terrorists themselves are referred to as “members of the resistance,” “self-sacrificing fighters,” and — when they get killed — as “Martyrs.”
Using the terms “popular resistance,” “resistance members,” and the use of “all means,” Fatah deputy Mahmoud Al-Aloul encouraged Palestinians to continue with terror to “defend the land”:
Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul: “All the greetings on your [Ramallah residents’] behalf to our beloved prisoners … Also all the greetings to the popular resistance … We say to the world on their behalf and on your behalf that we will defend our land. And we say to the resistance members [i.e., terrorists] — you can use all possible means to defend your land … Yes, this is our position as a Palestinian people.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, May 15, 2024]
Fatah is the movement led by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.
Just six weeks after Hamas’ massacre and murder of more than 1,000 Israelis in the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash used one of the “innocent” terms — “battle with all possible means” — to vow that terror will continue:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We are not in a temporary or limited battle against the occupation. Our battle is a battle of freedom, a battle of liberation from the occupation, and we will continue this battle with all possible and efficient means to get rid of the occupation.” [emphasis added]
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Nov. 22, 2023]
A few days earlier, Al-Habbash claimed that Allah legitimizes terror — referred to as “resistance” — because it is “anchored in all the religious and divine laws” as well as in “all the international norms and laws”:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The continuation of the occupation will lead to a response. And the Palestinian response is the resistance to this occupation, resolve against it, and using all the legal means to get rid of it.”
“This is our legal right that is anchored in all the religious and divine laws and in all the international norms and laws. We will continue this struggle until we get rid of the occupation.” [emphasis added]
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Nov. 17, 2023]
Around the same time, the legislative body of the PLO T–– the Palestinian National Council — also stressed that Palestinians have a right to use terror according to international law:
“The [Palestinian] National Council said: ‘The occupation’s massacres and its criminal acts against our Palestinian people wherever it is, and especially in the Gaza Strip, will only increase our determination to continue the struggle with all means … We say to the occupation that the massacres that it has committed and is still committing will not dissuade our people from continuing its struggle …
[The PNC] emphasized that resistance, self-defense, and struggle against the occupier are a legitimate right anchored in the international laws, until liberation and independence.” [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 14, 2023]
A statement by Al-Habbash from before the October 7 terror attack shows that indeed the current war is just an expression of the ongoing battle against Israel. Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has documented for decades that the PA/Fatah endorse, encourage and carry out terror against Israel to “liberate” Palestine.
Al-Habbash emphasized that our people is determined to stand firm and resist the occupation by all means until it leaves, regardless of the sacrifices. [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 17, 2023]
When Israel killed Hamas terror leader Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri in Lebanon in January 2024, then PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh endorsed him by asking for “mercy” for him and “the Martyrs” — i.e., terrorists, thereby approving and sanctioning terror as a legitimate way to fight Israel:
PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “When tyranny is a fact, rebellion against the tyranny is a duty. The Israeli tyranny is a fact, and the struggle [i.e., terror] against this tyranny is a right and duty. Mercy on the Martyrs who fell, and mercy on Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, whom the [Israeli] criminals assassinated in Beirut yesterday [Jan. 2, 2024].”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Jan. 3, 2024]
On the same occasion, Fatah’s Shabiba Student Movement also expressed support for terror, stating they would “continue [the] path” of Hamas terror leader Al-Arouri and that they “salute all forms of resistance against this occupier.”
The terms “peaceful uprising/resistance,” and “popular uprising/resistance” are used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest, and at other times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves.
For example, Mahmoud Abbas defined as “peaceful” the murderous terror during the 2015-2016 terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean). During this time, hundreds were wounded in stabbings, shootings, and car ramming attacks.
Abbas said: “We want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is.”
The terms “all means,” “all means of resistance,” “all forms,” are used by PA leaders to include using all types of violence, including deadly terror against Israeli civilians such as stabbings and shootings, as well as throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
In a statement for the 35th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the State of Palestine, the National Council emphasized: ”
On this lauded day, we say to the occupation that the massacres that it has committed and is still committing will not dissuade our people from continuing its struggle and resistance to the occupation, colonialism, and settler enterprise, with all its forms that are anchored in all the international laws. [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 14, 2023]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post PA/Fatah Encourage Terror: Use ‘All Possible Means to Defend Our Land’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Vows to Press on with Offensive
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, August 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighborhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.
Fire lit the skies from the direction of the explosions, causing panic, prompting some families to stream out of the city. Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area.
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
Israel approved a plan this month to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas. It is not expected to begin for a few weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try and resume ceasefire talks.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas agrees to end the war on Israel’s terms and release all hostages.
Hamas said in a statement on Sunday that Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire.
It said a ceasefire agreement was “the only way to return the hostages,” holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.
The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining hostages.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 hostages – of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living – and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.
‘HUNGRY AND AFRAID’
Around half of the enclave’s two million people currently live in Gaza City. A few thousand have already left, carrying their belongings on vehicles and rickshaws.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40, via a chat app. “No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Others said they will not leave, no matter what.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation, even if they did try to leave. “We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money.”
A global hunger monitor said on Friday that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread. Israel has rejected the assessment and says it ignores steps it has taken since late July to increase aid.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
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Iran Signals Willingness to Scale Back Uranium Enrichment to Ease Tensions
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iran may be prepared to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment levels in a bid to stave off renewed UN sanctions and limit the risk of further strikes by Israel and the United States, according to a report published Sunday in The Telegraph.
Citing Iranian sources, the paper said Tehran is considering lowering enrichment from 60% to 20%.
The move is reportedly being championed by Ali Larijani, the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who is holding talks with regime leaders.
“Larijani is trying to convince the system to reduce the level of enrichment in order to avoid further war,” a senior Iranian official told the paper.
The proposal, however, faces stiff resistance from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long opposed concessions on the nuclear program. Still, the report suggests Iran’s leadership may be open to greater flexibility, including the possibility of reviving engagement with Western powers.
Last month, i24NEWS reported exclusively that a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to travel to Iran. The team of technical experts would seek to resume monitoring of nuclear sites, inspections that have been heavily restricted in recent years.
The development comes amid mounting regional tensions and could represent a critical turning point in the long-running nuclear standoff.
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Major Brush Fire Erupts Near Jerusalem, Evacuations Underway
A view of the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem fast train seen over the HaArazim Valley (“Valley of Cedars”) just outside of Jerusalem, Sept. 25, 2018. Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
i24 News – A large brush fire broke out Sunday in the Cedars Valley area, near Route 1 and the Motza interchange, prompting an emergency response from Jerusalem district fire services. Several water-bombing planes were dispatched, and authorities have declared a “fire emergency.”
As a precaution, residents of Mevaseret Zion are being evacuated. Access to the town from Route 1 has already been blocked, and officials are weighing a full closure of the major highway.
Fire crews from the Ha’uma station are on site working to contain the flames, while motorists in the area are urged to heed traffic updates and follow instructions from emergency services.
Eight firefighting aircraft are currently operating above the blaze in support of ground teams. The fire comes amid one of the hottest, driest summers on record, with conditions fueling a series of destructive wildfires across the country.
Officials warn the situation remains critical, as the blaze threatens a vital transportation corridor leading into Jerusalem.