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Palestinian Authority Says It Still Gives Money (Not Just Aid) to Hamas Government in Gaza Strip
Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of the Palestinian terror movement Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. Photo: Pedro Pardo/Pool via REUTERS
Despite the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s criticism of Hamas for the disaster and ruin it has brought to the Gaza Strip, the PA not only continues to urge Hamas to join the PLO, but also continues to provide funding for the Hamas-ruled Strip.
Earlier this month, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa assured Hamas that the PA would continue to “provide the operational budget and salaries to fund different activities.”
The sum of this continued PA support — which in essence also supports Hamas and other Gaza terror organizations’ activities — comes to “275 million shekels every month.” This is not humanitarian aid, because Prime Minister Mustafa added that the PA also provides “welfare aid, food aid, and other aid” and additional “monetary aid of 233 million shekels”:
PA Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa: “The [PA] government has continued to provide the operational budget and salaries to fund different activities in the Gaza Strip, at a sum of 275 million [Israeli] shekels (over $73.2 million -Ed.) every month, or 3.3 billion shekels (over $878.8 million -Ed.) per year.
The government is continuing to provide welfare aid, food aid, and other aid to more than 400,000 families of our people in the Gaza Strip, in addition to monetary aid to approximately 210,000 families at a sum of approximately 233 million shekels (over $62 million -Ed.) through the [PA] Ministry of Social Development, in coordination with the humanitarian organizations and the UN organizations.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Oct. 8, 2024]
A few days ago, a member of the Palestinian National Council — the legislative body of the PLO — and senior Fatah Movement official Abdallah Abdallah stated that “Fatah and Hamas held positive talks regarding assembling a joint committee to manage the Gaza Strip the day after the war.” [Erem News, UAE-based news website, Oct. 23, 2024]
This follows Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash’s recent call on Hamas to join the PLO “so we can all unite against” Israel.
Al-Habbash patronized Hamas, comparing the PLO’s caring for Hamas to that of a “father or mother of the child” with whom they “disagree but wish the best for”:
Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We in the PLO understand that we are like the father or mother of the child. We cannot wish anything but all the best for our people or our Palestinian factions, regardless of what their views are or whether we agree or disagree with them.
But we just want all of us to join this one Palestinian home whose name is the PLO so that we all unite against the occupation [i.e., Israel].” [emphasis added]
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Oct. 18, 2024]
Another top PA official, Jibril Rajoub, has similarly expressed optimism that PA/Fatah and Hamas have come closer and stated that they are “building a partnership”:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “When this [Gaza war] aggression took place, the [Fatah] Central Committee convened. We made the following decisions: We view what has happened as a war and aggression of the Israelis against our people. They are the ones who are responsible, and what happened [on Oct. 7] is a response and a defensive measure for our people and our cause …
To my knowledge, the ongoing bilateral talks [with Hamas] have created a strategic basis and rapprochement between us and Hamas, which will lead in the end to building a partnership.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Oct. 16, 2024]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Palestinian Authority Says It Still Gives Money (Not Just Aid) to Hamas Government in Gaza Strip 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.