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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.