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Palestinian Leaders in the West Bank Still Celebrate and Justify Oct. 7 Massacre
People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Fatah, the ruling political party of the Palestinian Authority (PA), continues to revel in the October 7 massacre, and to wish for similar attacks in the future.
In a television interview that he posted to his Facebook page, a senior Fatah official, Abbas Zaki, expressed pride in the terrorists’ success, as well as in the popular support and actions by the Palestinians following the attacks. He hailed the massacre as something that will be studied in universities, and he described terrorist prisoners, including those who perpetrated heinous attacks prior to October 7, as “precious treasure.”
Zaki also called for ongoing “resistance in all its various forms,” besides diplomatic and political efforts.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that the PA likes to present itself as a victim of not only Israel, but of the entire Western world. Zaki expresses this with the claim that the October 7 attack overcame NATO forces and “all the West’s capabilities.” He defined Israel merely as a mercenary.
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki:
Posted text: “Fatah Central Committee member and [Fatah] General Commissioner for Arab and China Relations Abbas Zaki was interviewed on the [TV] channel Palestine Today … He noted that there must be an integration of Palestinian diplomatic and political activity at various international sites — especially at the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN General Assembly — and resistance in all its various forms.
Video: “People are surprised given the mighty [Palestinian] resolve and how the entire NATO treaty, all the West’s capabilities, together with all their [Israel’s] mercenaries and collaborators, were unable to silence the [resistance’s] fighters’ rifles and rockets. …
The Al-Aqsa Flood [Oct. 7 attack] will be studied in the universities and echoed widely, because the owners of the right [i.e., the Palestinians] held onto their homeland [i.e., Israeli land] and succeeded in defeating every kind of tyrannical party or alliance … They are a source of pride.
If [Ahmad] Sa’adat, Marwan [Barghouti], and Nael [Barghouti] [i.e., all terrorist prisoners] will be released, if all these prisoners … if they will be released, they are a precious treasure. It is enough that we succeeded in releasing them from the enemy’s claws.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, June 2, 2024]
In addition, Jibril Rajoub, who is the Fatah Central Committee Secretary, asserted that the October 7 attacks were a legitimate response to Israeli policies:
“Our conflict with this occupation [i.e., Israel] has been open since 1948 and until now. … Our behavior in all the circles and all platforms is based on the fact that what happened on Oct. 7 is a response to this occupation’s crimes…” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, June 2, 2024]
Since the attacks of October 7, Rajoub has been praising the Hamas operation. He has been relentless in calling it a war of defense against Israel’s creation in 1948, and even a “battle of heroism.”
He also refused to distance the PA from Hamas, and described Hamas as “part of the Palestinian social fabric”:
[Rajoub] added that Fatah thinks that “Hamas is part of the Palestinian social fabric.” [He] said that “the Al-Aqsa Flood” operation and the Palestinian resistance’s attack on Oct. 7, which Hamas’ military wing, the Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, launched against the occupation’s settlements is “an additional battle of heroism and a war of defense in the 75-year history of the Palestinian resistance.” [emphasis added]
[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 22, 2023]
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “What happened on Oct. 7 is part of a war of defense that the Palestinian people is waging against this occupation [i.e., Israel] in response to the Israeli crimes that are a continuation of the same crimes that are 76 years old today, which is the age of this occupation, against all of Palestine and the Palestinians.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Jan. 17, 2024]
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “What happened in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 is part of a war of defense that the Palestinian people carried out…” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 28, 2023]
After the October 7 massacre, the US pressured the Palestinian Authority to condemn the Hamas atrocities, but the PA refused. By now, Palestinian Media Watch has reported so many PA and Fatah statements defending, justifying, and celebrating October 7 that it is clear that the PA’s refusal to condemn was not merely for public relations purposes.
Rather, the PA genuinely supported and still supports the atrocities. It is no surprise that when Palestinians were asked about whether October 7 and the ongoing events made them feel pride, 98% of Palestinians answered “yes” according to the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD). With both Hamas and Fatah seeing the massacre, rapes, torture, hostage-taking, and all the other atrocities as heroic, there is no reason to expect the entire Palestinian population who were raised on PA/Fatah/Hamas ideologies to see things any differently.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post Palestinian Leaders in the West Bank Still Celebrate and Justify Oct. 7 Massacre 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.