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PA Goal: Unity with Hamas and Islamic Jihad Terror Organizations
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
There are many question about will happen to, and who will rule, the Gaza Strip after Israel has destroyed Hamas’ terror infrastructure.
For their part, the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s Fatah leaders are confident that the PA and Fatah will unite with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations and rule Gaza together.
Some PA and Fatah leaders have been adamant about joining forces with the terror organizations.
Jibril Rajoub, a top PA official and Fatah Central Committee Secretary, speaking in the name of Mahmoud Abbas, the PA leadership, and the PLO Executive Committee, has repeatedly stressed the PA’s goal of uniting with Hamas and Islamic Jihad — which he whitewashes as “political Islam” – against Israel:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub calls for unity:
“We say to our brothers in Hamas: We stand before a great turning point … The time has come for us [Fatah and Hamas] to reach a compromise. I call on them, on behalf of the Palestinian [PA] leadership, [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas, and the PLO Executive Committee — we say to them [Hamas]: Come build a political rapprochement regarding the international project, and build rapprochement regarding the struggle around a strategic option that could reap these achievements, which include an international turning point in world opinion about us and about our cause … We say to our brothers in Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement — the ball is in your court”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 17, 2023]
Rajoub also says that the PA won’t rule Gaza without Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations.
Jibril Rajoub: “Political Islam [i.e., Hamas] has been part of our political and social fabric and the fabric of our struggle, and it still is, and it will remain, period. … We will not go to [govern] the Gaza Strip without national agreement that will include political Islam, whether it is our brothers in Hamas or our brothers in [Islamic] Jihad. This is impossible.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 14, 2023]
Rajoub has also said that Hamas is “part of the fabric of our struggle”:
Jibril 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.”
[Al-Anba, Kuwaiti news website, Nov. 26, 2023]
He has also called the Oct. 7 massacre a “battle of heroism”:
Jibril Rajoub: “We hope that our brothers in Hamas will do a political rapprochement, a rapprochement regarding the struggle, and an organizational rapprochement, so that we will reach a compromise … What happened on Oct. 7 [2023] was a great earthquake and returned the Palestinian cause to the global agenda…
Fatah and [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas — despite all the pressures, and perhaps a number of things happened that didn’t have to happen — we have not condemned and not denounced [Hamas’ attack], and we have also not closed the door of unity on our brothers in political Islam.We say to them: We view you as part of the social fabric, the fabric of the struggle, and the Palestinian political and national fabric.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 16, 2023]
“Rajoub said that ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation and the Palestinian resistance’s attack on Oct. 7 [2023], which Hamas’ military wing, the Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, launched against the occupation’s settlements [sic., towns in sovereign Israel], is ‘an additional battle of heroism and a war of defense in the 75-year history of the Palestinian resistance.’
He added that the Palestinians need to make collective decisions through joint support for the resistance [i.e., terror].’”
[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 22, 2023]
Rajoub has also stressed that terror organizations will unite under the PLO/PA:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The PLO [is] the sole legitimate representative of the [Palestinian] people. This is an achievement that we will not relinquish.
Of course, the PLO needs reorganization so that it will become the umbrella organization of all the Palestinians and of all the national action factions, including the [factions of] political Islam … The PA … also needs a reexamination, so that it will be a national unity government that will be responsible for all the Palestinians in all the Palestinian territories.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 14, 2023]
This was echoed by Fatah official Muhammad Al-Hourani:
Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Hourani: “We believe Hamas that it is taking action for the freedom of the land. Therefore we, Hamas, and all the Palestinian factions must think deeply and seriously about realizing the unity of the Palestinian arena under the flag of the PLO.”
[Al-Arabiya TV (Saudi Arabia), YouTube channel, Dec. 27, 2023]
Another top PA official who has called for unity with Hamas is Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash. Throughout the war, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has exposed Al-Habbash’s emphasis on the PA’s support for Hamas and its massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, and its continued war against Israel — a support he has garnished with antisemitic teachings about Jews.
Al-Habbash: PA and Fatah’s “hands are extended, hearts are open” to Hamas to unite:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash:
“The occupation [i.e., Israel] is the cause of every problem … Now more than ever, we need to end the matter of the internal [Fatah-Hamas] conflict. Our hands are extended, our hearts are open, and our chests are open to every Palestinian voice that wants to put the internal Palestinian home in order, because this is necessary to strengthen our position.”
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Dec. 24, 2023]
Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “More than ever we must put our internal home in order. The time has come for everyone to once and for all announce the end of the [Fatah-Hamas] rift to unite the Palestinian internal front against this [Israeli] aggression.”
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Dec. 12, 2023]
PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh repeated Abbas’ support for Hamas, stressing Abbas defended Hamas at the UN by claiming it is “not a terror organization”:
“Hamas is not a terror movement,” PLO official cites PA Chairman Abbas’ defense of Hamas
Al-Jazeera TV interviewer: “A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) showed Palestinian support for the Resistance [i.e., Hamas] and a regression in the popularity of the PA, and President Abbas in particular. How do you view this, considering that you have stated that Hamas is not a role model?” …
PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh: “I didn’t say that Hamas is not a role model … When the world spoke and demanded that Hamas be defined as a terror movement — who set out against the world? Was it not Mahmoud Abbas, who stood at the UN podium and said: ‘No, Hamas is not a terror movement’! The real terror is the occupation [i.e., Israel]. The real terror is the settlement enterprise.”
[Former Head of Fatah Commission of Information and Culture’s Information Office Munir Al-Jaghoub, X (Twitter) account, Dec. 19, 2023]
Right from the beginning of the war, immediately after Hamas’ massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, PMW has reported on PA officials around the world expressing support for the Oct 7 terror attack. Another example is PLO Ambassador to South Africa Hanan Jarrar:
PLO Ambassador to South Africa Hanan Jarrar (in English): “As Palestinians we are one. Hamas, Fatah, [Islamic] Jihad, other political parties, either in the Left or the Right – we are one, we are Palestinians, and this is democracy… So why when it comes to Palestine we have to denounce one of our political factions [i.e., Hamas], that according to international law they are doing the right thing? International law says that when any country is under occupation, they have all the right to use all the measures, instruments available to defend themselves…
The Palestinian leadership has been subjected to numerous and huge pressure to denounce what’s going on right now, and we are not denouncing it and we will never ever denounce a major component of our people defending the interest of the Palestinian people.”
[Hilaal TV (South Africa), YouTube channel, Oct. 11, 2023]
Top PLO official Rawhi Fattouh emphasized PA Chairman Abbas’ instructions of continued financial support to Hamas-ruled Gaza, promising to prioritize “sending” money there.
Rawhi Fattouh made this statement in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the PA cannot take control of the Gaza Strip following the 2023 Gaza war, given that the PA pays salaries to terrorists and refuses to condemn Hamas’ massacre in Israel on Oct. 7.
Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh: “As [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas noted at a conference and also before the Palestinian [PA] leadership, if we are left with one penny we will send it to the Gaza Strip.
Neither [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu nor anyone else will stop us from spending money on our residents and our people in the Gaza Strip … Therefore, we Palestinians, our position is unified and united, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are one body.”
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Nov. 12, 2023]
Continued financial support for Hamas-ruled Gaza has also been stressed by PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh:
PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “We did not relinquish the Gaza Strip, and we will not relinquish the Gaza Strip, because they are our people … We are giving the Gaza Strip $1.7 billion from the Palestinian [PA] budget per year, which we spend on the Gaza Strip.”
[Al-Araby TV (Qatar-based), YouTube channel, Dec. 10, 2023]
Similarly, senior PLO/Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad stated he had “received instructions from Abbas to make contact with Hamas”:
“Senior PLO official Azzam Al-Ahmad informed [Saudi state-owned] Al-Arabiya TV that he received instructions from Palestinian [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas to make contact with Hamas.
Al-Ahmad … made contact with [Hamas Political Bureau member] Musa Abu Marzouq and [Hamas Political Bureau Chairman] Ismail Haniyeh, and expressed hope of holding an additional conversation with Haniyeh…
He added that the PLO did not set conditions for entering an agreement with the other Palestinian sides … He also noted that all the factions need to be under the PLO framework.”
[Al-Arabiya TV website (Saudi Arabia), Dec. 15, 2023]
Others have also shown their connection to terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad — their “brothers” — and called for unity, stating that there are “no disagreements between Hamas and Fatah”:
Fatah Jenin Branch Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh: “In the name of all the national and Islamic forces we announce a general strike in all aspects of life, in all of Palestine. Here are the brothers from the Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Hamas.”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Oct. 31, 2023]
Fatah Spokesman Jamal Nazzal: “Currently there are no disagreements between Hamas and Fatah. We now agree that a ceasefire is the joint goal … From the moment that a ceasefire will be achieved, we must outline a joint political plan and a joint path that will unite us, and through which we will draw conclusions from the recent past. This is the goal that we will put on the table the moment the ceasefire is achieved.”
[Al-Jazeera TV, YouTube channel, Dec. 24, 2023]
Fatah official calls for Fatah-Hamas unity “because after the Gaza Strip [the Israelis] will move on to the West Bank”
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki:
“What is needed now after Oct. 7 [2023] is to reexamine all the policies and to have a new strategy whose basis is Palestinian unity. I think the door has been opened so that we will all be united, because after the Gaza Strip they [the Israelis] will move on to the West Bank.”
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, Nov. 17, 2023]
Palestinian civilians in the West Bank have also expressed their support for Hamas and their desire for Hamas rule:
West Bankers praise Hamas, call for terror: “Actions … that will restore the glory to the religion … Death for Allah”
The image above shows celebrations in Nablus for female prisoners released in a prisoner exchange deal starting on Nov. 24, 2023, between Israel and Hamas during the 2023 Gaza war, in which terrorist prisoners were released in exchange for Israeli hostages. The crowd is seen waving green Hamas flags.
PMW has exposed similar calls in support for Hamas by students in the West Bank.
The post PA Goal: Unity with Hamas and Islamic Jihad Terror Organizations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit
US President Donald Trump meets with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump insisted that America will “take” Gaza and that other countries in the Middle East will absorb the Palestinians currently residing in the enclave while meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the White House on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza. No reason to buy. There is nothing to buy,” Trump said.
The president suggested that the damage incurred by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has corroded Gaza’s value and that the United States will simply seize the enclave. However, he did not detail how he plans to facilitate or finance the reconstruction of Gaza.
“It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it,” Trump added.
Nonetheless, the president vowed that the US will energize Gaza’s economy and turn the territory into a “diamond” and “tremendous asset” for the Middle East. Trump maintained that Gaza possesses the potential to become a “great economic development” for the region, touting its scenic location on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the president lamented that seemingly “every 10 years” Gaza erupts into explosive warfare, resulting in “death and destruction” for its civilians.
Trump added that he believes “99 percent” that the United States could strike an agreement with Egypt to relocate the residents of Gaza, where the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas ruled before the war and remains the strongest faction.
When asked what he thought of Trump’s ambitions to transfer Palestinian civilians to Egypt, Abdullah revealed that Egypt and other Arab countries are planning to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the future of Gaza. Abdullah refused to speak extensively about Trump’s stated goal of removing Palestinians from Gaza, advising reporters to “not get ahead of ourselves” and wait for Arab countries to deliberate about the matter.
“It’s hard to make this work in a way that’s good for everybody,” Abdullah said.
Though the Jordanian king would not commit to taking in large numbers of Palestinians, he said Jordan would be willing to “take 2,000 children that are cancer children or are in [a] very ill state” while Arab countries “wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on Gaza challenges.”
During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week, Trump called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states in the region to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and the Hamas. Arab leaders have adamantly rejected Trump’s proposal.
Last week, the US president expressed similar sentiments as he did on Tuesday, saying that the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip to build the war-torn Palestinian enclave back up. However, many members of the US Congress across both parties pushed back on Trump’s declaration, accusing him of endangering American troops, destabilizing the Middle East, and floating an ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. Trump has also stated that Palestinians would not have the “right to return” to Gaza after being relocated and said no US troops would be needed for his plan without elaborating.
Following his meeting with Trump, Abdullah took to social media to call for a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state.
“This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds,” the Jordanian king added.
The post Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Bowdoin College Clears ‘Gaza Encampment’
Anti-Zionist Bowdoin College students storming the Smith Union administrative building on the evening of Feb. 6, 2025, to occupy it in protest of what they said are the college’s links to Israel. Photo: Screenshot
Bowdoin College in Maine has negotiated an end to an anti-Zionist group’s occupation of an administrative building without acceding to any of its demands for a boycott of Israel, The Bowdoin Orient reported on Monday.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)had installed an encampment inside Smith Union on Thursday night in response to US President Donald Trump’s proposing that the US “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a hub for tourism and economic dynamism. The roughly 50 students who resided inside the building vowed not to leave until the Bowdoin officials agree to adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Following the action, Bowdoin officials promptly moved to deescalate the situation by counseling the students to mind the “gravity of situation” in which they placed themselves, with senior associate dean Katie Toro-Ferrari warning that their behavior “could put them on the path where they are jeopardizing their ability to remain as Bowdoin students.” No sooner had it sent this communication than it began issuing temporary suspensions to students who rejected appeals to leave Smith Union and return to normal student life.
“You will be placed on temporary suspension, effective immediately, pending a college disciplinary process,” Bowdoin vice president Jim Hoppe wrote to the protesters in a letter, copies of which were sent to their parents. “During your immediate suspension, you may not attend your Spring 2025 courses … Your family will receive a copy of this letter. This temporary status will continue until further notice.”
Facing threats of severer sanctions, SJP agreed to vacate Smith Union on Monday and shared that they had issued a plea for mercy in discussions with college officials which called for them to “understand a context of good faith for the students who have engaged in this action.” By that time, several students had already left the building, according to the Orient.
Republicans in Washington, DC have said that disruptive and extremist political activity on college campuses “will no longer be tolerated in the Trump administration.” Meanwhile, the new US president has enacted a slew of policies aimed at reining in disruptive and discriminatory behavior.
Continuing work started during his first administration — when Trump issued Executive Order 13899 to ensure that civil rights law apply equally Jews — Trump’s recent “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism” calls for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” The order also requires each government agency to write a report explaining how it can be of help in carrying out its enforcement. Another major provision of the order calls for the deportation of extremist “alien” student activists, whose support for terrorist organizations, intellectual and material, such as Hamas contributed to fostering antisemitism, violence, and property destruction.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Hamas Rebuffs Trump’s ‘Worthless’ Call for Israel to Resume War if Terror Group Refuses to Release Hostages
Then-US President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, Jan. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Hamas has rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s warning that he’ll “let hell break out” if the Palestinian terrorist group does not release all the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that the American leader’s threats are “worthless and only complicate matters.”
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to get the prisoners back,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhr told multiple press agencies, referring to the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal between the terrorist group and Israel. “The language of threats is worthless and only complicates matters.”
On Monday, Trump advised Israel to cancel the ceasefire and said he would “let hell break out” if Hamas refused to release the remaining hostages. Trump’s comments echoed statements made by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, last month that the White House would support Israel resuming the war in Gaza if Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock … I would say, cancel it [the hostage deal] and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned — all of them — not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two — Saturday at 12 o’clock. And after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.”
Trump cautioned that Israel might want to override him on the issue and said he might speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s comments came after Hamas announced on Monday that it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over alleged violations of the ceasefire deal. Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida claimed that Israel has prevented Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, conducted strikes throughout the Gaza Strip, and impeded the delivery of humanitarian goods.
“The resistance leadership has closely monitored the enemy’s violations and its failure to uphold the terms of the agreement,” Obeida said.
The Israel Defense Forces has insisted that its strikes were conducted for defensive purposes, saying that its soldiers have “operated to distance suspects who posed a threat to them in different areas of the Gaza Strip.”
“The IDF is committed to fully implementing the conditions of the agreement for the return of the hostages,” the military wrote in a statement, adding that their forces are “prepared for any scenario and will continue to take any necessary actions to thwart immediate threat to IDF soldiers.”
Meanwhile, Israel said last week that 12,600 trucks of aid had arrived in Gaza since the beginning of the deal on Jan. 19.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the neighboring enclave. The conflict raged for nearly 16 months until both sides agreed to last month’s ceasefire and hostage-release deal, the first phase of which is set to last six weeks.
Under phase one, Hamas agreed to free a total of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, and in exchange, Israel would release over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are serving multiple life sentences for terrorist activity. Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza will stop as negotiators work on agreeing to a second phase of the agreement, which is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining hostages held in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.
So far, 16 of the 33 hostages in Gaza have been released within the first phase of the ceasefire.
The three latest hostages were released on Saturday. Their strikingly thin and emaciated bodies sparked international outrage about Hamas’s treatment of the hostages, with Trump comparing the captives to Holocaust survivors.
The details of the second phase of the ceasefire are still being negotiated. However, Israel has reportedly presented the White House with a plan to advance the truce with Hamas.
The post Hamas Rebuffs Trump’s ‘Worthless’ Call for Israel to Resume War if Terror Group Refuses to Release Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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