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Released Terrorist Admits Palestinian Authority Security Forces Fought Israel in the Second Intifada
Palestinians, including children, celebrating the Second Intifada. Photo: Screenshot.
Palestinian terrorist Naji Arar was recently released from Israeli prison, having served 18 years. He was warmly welcomed and hugged by Palestinian Authority (PA) police officers:
Posted text: “A reception for [released] prisoner Naji Arar from the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid, near Ramallah, after spending 18 years in the occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] prisons.”
[Official PA TV, Telegram channel, May 1, 2025]
Why would PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ police force praise and greet a released terrorist?
- Because Arar is one of them, and was imprisoned for fighting Israelis while he was a PA Security Forces (PASF) member.
- Because the PASF endorses and participates in terror against Israelis, as exposed by Palestinian Media Watch.
Introduced and praised on official PA TV as a member of the PA Security Forces, terrorist Arar explained that during the Second Intifada — the PA’s five-year terror campaign during which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered — it was the PA Security Forces members who “responded to the call of the homeland” and “resisted” — i.e., carried out terror attacks:
Official PA TV host: “Today we will talk about the state of the prisoners … with a released prisoner who spent more than 18 years in the occupation’s prison cells … We have with us the free prisoner Naji Arar … Let’s talk about your first period of imprisonment. We’re talking about a young man in his prime, a member of the [PA] Security Forces of whom we are also proud. Tell us about the first period of imprisonment.” …
Naji Arar: “I was a member of the Security Forces, of the security establishment. When we responded to the call of the homeland — we responded to this call through the Security Forces.
Do you remember the Al-Aqsa Intifada [i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005] and the [Israeli] invasions [of the West Bank cities]? The ones who resisted there were the Security Forces members, of course, in cooperation with our people and the factions. I was arrested in Ramallah and sentenced to 18 years … It was shocking. But for Palestine, everything is insignificant.
We were released … and met the security establishment through which we launched [our activity back then]. It welcomed us.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, May 30, 2025]
The PA Security Forces’ involvement in terror against Israelis is not a thing of the past though. Palestinian Media Watch has repeatedly exposed examples of the Forces’ involvement in terror.
This is also one of the central arguments against giving the PA governance over the Gaza Strip once Hamas has been eradicated, as doing so would just replace one terror organization with another.
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has already announced his “vision” that the PA Security Forces will be responsible for security in the Strip:
Mahmoud Abbas: “Today we present the Palestinian vision for dealing with the challenges [in Gaza]. We are working to achieve coordination on them among the Arabs. Here are the important principles: The State of Palestine will fulfill its role in the Gaza Strip through its governmental institutions. An administrative committee has been established for this purpose.
The PA Security Forces will bear responsibility [for security in Gaza] after the construction and unification of the existing staff in Gaza and training [security personnel] in Egypt and Jordan.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV News, March 5, 2025]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Released Terrorist Admits Palestinian Authority Security Forces Fought Israel in the Second Intifada 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.