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Palestinian Authority Says Hamas Is ‘Holding More than Two Million Palestinians Hostage’
A Palestinian Hamas terrorist shakes hands with a child as they stand guard as people gather on the day of the handover of Israeli hostages, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has never condemned the October 7 atrocities, and it even continues to defend them as “legitimate resistance.”
To be clear, any disapproval of Hamas by the PA is not about expressing criticism over the Israelis who were murdered, raped, tortured, and kidnapped on October 7. It has only to do with internal competition for favor among the Palestinian population, as Hamas has grown tremendously in popularity since October 7.
That is why the PA is currently lashing out at Hamas for continuing to fight at the expense of Palestinian civilians.
Through an article in its official daily, the PA complained that Hamas is using the Gazan civilian population as “human shields” and “holding more than 2 million Palestinians hostage.”
The headline of the article called on Hamas politicians to “close the gates of hell”:
Headline: “O Hamas politicians, close the gates of hell with rationality”
“None of us demands obedience and submission, as claimed by the Hamas politicians, but only a bit of rationality, realism, and an abandonment of the irresponsible behavior.
This is because our people in the Gaza Strip is paying the price of the hopeless behavior of the Hamas politicians, their political ignorance, and the lack of courage to make the most appropriate decision to stop the destruction campaign.
In reality, they are holding more than two million Palestinian residents hostage and using them as human shields to preserve their organization.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 20, 2025]
Also in an editorial, the PA accused Hamas of being trapped in an “illusion,” imagining that they are going to “safely” end the war and return to power through the Israeli hostages:
Over 50,000 female and male Martyrs [unverified casualty figures from Hamas and the PA] have not convinced Hamas to act wisely and escape the illusion that has overtaken it and still makes it imagine that the Israeli hostages in its possession are the way for its safe exit from this war and its return to the throne of power in the Gaza Strip!”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 19, 2025]
Moreover, the editorial expressed the opinion that Hamas can’t be part of the political plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip:
[We should be] demanding from Hamas that the Gaza Strip be out of its political plan, and that it not remain part of its ideology and project … In short, there is no reconstruction with Hamas.
Former General Political Commissioner of the PLO Political and National Guidance Authority Adnan Al-Damiri criticized Hamas along the same lines, calling for Allah to take revenge not only on Israel but also on Hamas who “with their stupidity and adventures” have destroyed the Gaza Strip:
Hamas presents the residents of the Gaza Strip with an alleged victory even before the liberation of Rafah, Jabaliya, Gaza, and Khan Yunis from the occupation [i.e., Israel], at a time when the people is uprooted and homeless in tents.
Your gift has been returned to you. Delight in the illusion that you have created with the blood of the children of Gaza. You presented your alleged victory to Iran and its leaders before the people of Gaza, and it did not benefit them at all …
O Allah, take revenge on those who oppressed Gaza, destroyed it, orphaned its children, widowed its women, and destroyed its homes with their weapons [i.e., Israel] or with their stupidity and adventures [i.e., Hamas].” [emphasis added]
[Adnan Al-Damiri, Facebook page, March 13, 2025]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Palestinian Authority Says Hamas Is ‘Holding More than Two Million Palestinians Hostage’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.