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Role Reversal: Mahmoud Abbas Condemns Israel for ‘Acts of Terror’ Against Hezbollah
People rush to a soccer field hit by a Hezbollah rocket in the majority-Druze northern Israeli town Majdal Shams Photo: Via 924, from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
While ignoring the thousands of rockets and drones fired at northern Israel by the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah since the start of the current Gaza war, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling party, Fatah, continue to express support for Hezbollah against Israel by painting Hezbollah as a victim.
Following Israel’s recent pager and device attacks against Hezbollah, both the PA and Fatah hurried to express their support for “sister Lebanon.”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ office “condemned” the attacks as “acts of terror,” claiming they “harmed innocent civilians”:
The Palestinian [PA] presidential office again strongly condemned the acts of terror against sister Lebanon…
The presidential office emphasized that the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people stand alongside the government and people in sister Lebanon, at a time when it is being subjected to terror that harmed innocent civilians …
The presidential office warned against the results of this severe escalation, which violates Lebanese sovereignty and threatens international peace and security.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 18, 2024]
Also ignoring Hezbollah’s numerous attacks on Israeli civilian areas — and the murder of more than 40 Israelis, including 12 children who were playing soccer — Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash accused Israel of “escalating” the situation and seeking to “undermine the region’s stability” with its “aggressive operations”:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The Israeli government is continuing its attempts to escalate the situation and the tension more and more. These aggressive operations that the occupation state [i.e., Israel] and the occupation army are carrying out, whether in Lebanon, in Palestine, or anywhere else, strive to create additional tension and escalation on the military and security level in order to undermine the region’s stability.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Sept. 18, 2024]
Abbas’ Fatah movement also condemned Israel’s “aggressive and criminal operation,” stressing its continued support for Lebanon and its “great appreciation for the support” that Lebanon [ i.e., the terror organization Hezbollah] “has given the [Palestinian] cause”:
The Fatah Movement … condemned the aggressive and criminal operation, due to which hundreds died as Martyrs …
Fatah said that it is standing alongside sister Lebanon and the Lebanese people that is dear to our hearts, and expressed its great appreciation for the support that it has given the [Palestinian] cause and the Palestinian people, despite the burden it bears and despite the sacrifices it is making …
[Fatah] also promised and swore once again to continue on the path of struggle to realize freedom, return, and independence on the Palestinian land and the end of the occupation [i.e., Israel]. [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 17, 2024]
In addition to promising to “continue on the path of struggle” by committing more terror attacks, Fatah has also directly called on Hezbollah to continue attacking Israel.
Recently, top PA/Fatah official Jibril Rajoub encouraged Hezbollah and Iran to “punish the Israeli enemy”:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The one who endangers regional security and world peace is this unilateral Israeli aggression against Palestine, against Syria, against Lebanon, against Iraq, against Yemen, against Iran, and against the entire world. ..
This [Israeli] enemy only understands the language of force, and it needs to be punished … Punishing Netanyahu and a response – whether by our brothers in Hezbollah, Iran, and any other side – are a message for which [those countries] are responsible… But the military conduct must come simultaneously with a political will on everything concerning fighting the occupation and aggression … We must not let [Israel] continue to behave like the neighborhood bully, and must not let it integrate in the Middle East region and normalize any relations before the fully sovereign [Palestinian] state is established.”
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Aug. 7, 2024]
And let’s not forget the leader that started it all with the massacre and murder on Oct. 7, 2023: Hamas, headed by Yahya Al-Sinwar.
Sinwar is of course thrilled with Hezbollah’s unwavering support for the “resistance to the Zionist project” and the “Nazi Zionist occupation.”
Following the assassination in Iran of Sinwar’s predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, Sinwar sent a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, thanking him for joining “one of the most honorable battles of the Palestinian people” — Hamas’ “Al-Aqsa Flood”:
Al-Sinwar: “We thank you for your solidarity that is mixed with sincere and noble feelings, which were expressed by your blessed actions in the fronts of the axis of resistance as support and participation in this battle.” [emphasis added]
[Al-Manar website (Hezbollah affiliated), Sept. 14, 2024]
Al-Sinwar emphasized his disregard for human life, stressing his appreciation of all the people who have died for his cause — “Jihad and resistance” against Israel:
“The blood of our people … this pure blood and the blessed convoys of Martyrs will become more decisive and stronger against the Nazi Zionist occupation.
We also emphasize that… the lofty principles that leader Martyr [Ismail Haniyeh] espoused will remain firm and present … foremost among them the unity of the Palestinian people around Jihad and resistance, and also the unity of the nation, and at its core the axis of resistance to the Zionist project.” [emphasis added]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Role Reversal: Mahmoud Abbas Condemns Israel for ‘Acts of Terror’ Against Hezbollah 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.