Even before the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas have formalized a unification that both sides are calling for, but will certainly take time, the PA is already acting as a propaganda arm for Hamas, by demonizing Israel, defending Hamas’ actions as self-defense, and presenting Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists as a war of “genocide” against innocent civilians.

One prime example are the PA’s regular casualty announcements, which are precise down to the single individual when it comes to PA/Hamas claims of civilian casualties, but according to the PA’s official announcements, none of those killed by Israel were Hamas terrorists.

For example, on Monday, the PA released a detailed list with 34 categories including killed, wounded, sick, and missing. The details are striking: 32,295 martyred and missing, of which 25,295 were martyrs who reached the hospitals, 11,000 child martyrs, 7,500 female martyrs, 337 medical staff martyrs, 119 journalist martyrs, and in all 34 categories with precise details. However, the PA does not list even one Hamas terrorist or even a member of Hamas among the killed, injured, or captured. For the PA, they are all innocent martyrs.

This is consistent with the PA defense of Hamas since the start of the war, when on the very first day, Mahmoud Abbas already declared the attack as a justified attack of self-defense. Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash said it more precisely: the war was justified because of the seven decades of “occupation,” meaning since Israel was created.

The united front with Hamas that the PA has adopted during the war, will be helpful in establishing the PA-Hamas unity. Another call for unity came this week, by Fahmi Al-Za’arir — Secretary of the Palestinian National Council:

“Unity is the necessary transition to victory, and it is the law of victory for every revolution in the world. And any revolution in the world that has internal disputes during the stage of national liberation, its path is delayed… The Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad have not objected to being under the framework of the PLO since 1989 and not only now.“

[Official PA TV, Jan. 2, 2024]

The following is the official PA government announcement of “the most important statistics of the genocidal war waged by the ‘Israeli’ occupation.” (Parenthetically, it should be noted that the PA announcement put the word “Israeli” in quotation marks, as part of its non-recognition of Israel. In spite of its public statements to the international community, non-recognition of Israel remains a fundamental component of PA ideology.)

“The Government Media Office is publishing an update on the most important statistics of the genocidal war waged by the “Israeli” occupation on the Gaza Strip – Monday, January 22, 2024

(108) days of the genocidal war.

(2,119) massacres committed by the Israeli army.

(32,295) martyred and missing.

(25,295) martyrs who reached the hospitals.

(11,000) child martyrs.

(7,500) female martyrs.

(337) martyrs from medical staff.

(45) martyr from civil defense.

(119) martyr of the journalists.

(7,000) are missing, 70% of them children and women.

(63,000) injured.

(11,000) wounded need to travel for “life-saving and dangerous” treatment.

(10,000) cancer patients face the risk of death.

(400,000) infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement.

(8,000) cases of viral hepatitis infection due to displacement.

(60,000) pregnant women are at risk due to the lack of health care.

(350,000) chronic patients are at risk due to the lack of medication.

(99) cases of arrest among health workers.

(10) arrests of well-known journalists.

)2( million displaced people in the Gaza Strip.

(140) government headquarters destroyed by the occupation.

(99) schools and universities completely destroyed by the occupation.

(295) schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation.

(161) mosques completely destroyed by the occupation.

(253) mosques partially destroyed by the occupation.

(3) churches targeted and destroyed by the occupation.

(70,000) housing units completely destroyed by the occupation.

(290,000) housing units partially destroyed by the occupation and uninhabitable.

(65,000) tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza.

(30) Hospitals taken out of service by the occupation.

(53) health centers that the occupation took out of service.

(150) health institutions were partially targeted by the occupation.

(122) An ambulance destroyed by the occupation army.

(200) archaeological and heritage sites destroyed by the occupation.

Government Media Office – Monday, January 22, 2024″

The author is the founder and executive director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.

The post PA-Hamas Unity: PA Already Doing Propaganda for Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.