RSS
Unlike the Media, Palestinian Authority Blames Hamas for Death of Civilians in Gaza
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive, shelter in tents, in Gaza City May 11, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
While the international community is blaming Israel for the tragic civilian deaths in Gaza, Palestinians are correctly blaming Hamas for intentionally using civilians as using human shields. Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah published a short video criticizing Hamas for its responsibility for the deaths of Gazan civilians, because they use them as human shields in the war:
Fatah-run Awdah TV narrator: “From [Hamas leader] Khaled Mashaal, who described the Martyrs of the Gaza Strip as ‘tactical losses,’ to [Hamas official] Musa Abu Marzouq and [Al-Jazeera’s] Sa’id Ziyad, who said ‘We will fight using the flesh of Gaza’s children,‘ there is a clear way in whose name people are being sacrificed with utmost arrogance and denial.
But from the heart of the Gaza Strip voices are rising … Today the Palestinians are demanding that Hamas leave the political scene after it failed to provide the most minimal protection to the civilians and used them as human shields in an endless war.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, May 18, 2025]
A regular columnist of the official Palestinian Authority (PA) daily echoed this criticism two days later, saying Hamas is preoccupied with “child flesh production,” viewing Gazan women merely as “factories for producing babies” so they can be led to “the slaughterhouse” of the war:
Hamas, has demonstrated the discourse of disaster … The first was broadcasted on the [Al-Jazeera] screen of deceit and fraud: ‘We will fight using the flesh of our children,‘ as [Al-Jazeera commentator] Sa’id Ziyad said, and the second: ‘The Martyrs, Allah willing – we will create dozens of times as many in their place,’ as was said… by their [Hamas] Spokesman Dr. Sami Abu Zahri … [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 20, 2025]
A top Fatah official condemned Hamas, citing several statements from Hamas leaders during the current war that testify to the lack of value of human life for the Hamas terror organization and its evil use of civilians as human shields:
Fatah Spokesman in Europe and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Nazzal: “[Hamas] considers this as a gain because the value of the Palestinian person … has no consideration or value according to Hamas’ perspective …
[Hamas Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri] says that in return for the Martyrs, we will produce several times of them. [Hamas Political Bureau member] Ghazi Hamad said that whether Israel will kill 100,000 or 200,000 [Gazans] we will continue. Or as [Hamas leader] Khaled Mashaal said that these Palestinian losses are “tactical losses.“ …
[Hamas official] Musa Abu Marzouq said we did not establish the [bomb] shelters for the Palestinian people in Gaza, because the Palestinian people in Gaza are under the responsibility of the UN and our [Hamas’] responsibility is our fighters… If we have a white cloth, we won’t use it as a white flag …[emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, May 20, 2025]
Gazans themselves have been speaking out against Hamas, for some time now.
In November 2024, when the Gaza war launched by Hamas had lasted for more than a year, Israeli journalist Ohad Hemo entered the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and interviewed Gazans about Hamas. This video shows some of their statements (longer excerpt below):
Woman 1: “The situation is difficult, may God take revenge on those who uprooted us and killed us in our homes.”
Channel 12 reporter Ohad Hemo: “Who killed you?”
Woman 1: “Hamas killed us. Hamas wounded me and killed us. Hamas.”
Hemo: “Is Hamas responsible for everything we see here?”
Woman 1: “It’s all Hamas, Hamas.” …
Woman 2: “May God settle accounts with Hamas. May God take revenge on Hamas. They destroyed our lives. We want you [Israelis] to rule here, we do not want Hamas. The entire people hates Hamas.”
Woman 3: “Hamas has ruined our lives. We are a poor people. Hamas has eaten us up. Hamas has taken our [humanitarian] aid, they have taken everything. Hamas’ wicked government. Hamas are terrorists. Exterminate Hamas from the world! We are with you! We are with you! We are with you!” …
[Channel 12 (Israel), Nov. 10, 2024]
For years, Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that Hamas uses Gazan civilians as human shields.
The current Gaza war is just the latest example. In April, the PA complained that Hamas is holding “more than two million Palestinians hostage… as human shields.”
Additional criticism of Hamas was voiced by a group affiliated with Fatah, because it should be the shield for Gazans, but instead turned Gazans into shields for their own protection:
Posted text: “Hamas, which is supposed to be the shield, has become the sword raised over our heads. Instead of defending – it has become oppressive…
The people in the Gaza Strip are not only under external siege, but are also under an internal siege… Whoever speaks out receives a bullet, prison, or disappears… We are not against the resistance, but we are against being used as shields.” [emphasis added]
[“Sons of the Homeland,” Telegram channel, April 24, 2025]
A columnist of the official PA daily stressed that Hamas has endangered “millions of peaceful and innocent civilians”:
[Hamas] has become professional in ways of drawing the religious-Talmudic Zionist monster into the homes of millions of peaceful and innocent civilians in private wars, which are meant to achieve sectoral goals.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 29, 2025]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Unlike the Media, Palestinian Authority Blames Hamas for Death of Civilians in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Netanyahu Criticizes Nation-Wide Strike That ‘Strengthens Hamas’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday harshly criticized nationwide demonstrations calling for the release of hostages and an end to the Gaza war.
Speaking at a government meeting, Netanyahu argued that such protests only strengthen Hamas and risk repeating the atrocities of October 7.
“Those who call today for an end to Hamas’s war not only harden the terrorist group’s position and delay the release of our hostages, but also guarantee that the horrors of October 7 will be repeated and that we will have to fight an endless war,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister defended Israel’s ongoing military operations, citing strikes carried out in recent days: “In the last 24 hours, the navy attacked power stations in Yemen, IDF soldiers struck Zeitoun and eliminated dozens of terrorists in Gaza, and the air force targeted Hezbollah commanders and launch sites in Lebanon.”
He added that Israel’s response in Lebanon was consistent with the ceasefire agreement: “According to this agreement, we will meet with fire any violation and any attempt to arm Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s conditions for ending the conflict, stressing the need for continued security control in Gaza and the group’s long-term demilitarization. He rejected Hamas’s demand for a full Israeli withdrawal: “They want us to leave Gaza entirely — from the north, the south, the Philadelphi corridor, and the security perimeter. That would only allow them to reorganize, rearm, and attack us again.”
The war has now entered its 681st day, with 49 hostages still held by Hamas.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined a general strike organized by the Hostage Families Forum, calling for the return of all captives in a single deal and for an end to the war. Demonstrations spread across the country, at major intersections, government ministers’ homes, and familiar protest hubs such as Kaplan Junction and the Ayalon highways.
RSS
Family Releases Footage of Matan Zangauker in Captivity
A screenshot of a video released by the family of hostage Matan Zangauker.
i24 News – The family of Matan Zangauker, the Israeli hostage held by Hamas since October 7, shared new footage of him from captivity on Sunday evening.
The video, obtained by the IDF, was recorded several months ago.
In the recording, 32-year-old Matan looks directly into the camera, addressing his loved ones: “Tato, Shani, Ilana, I miss you. God willing, we’ll see each other soon. All my friends and acquaintances, go out and make noise like only you know how.”
Matan was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his partner Ilana Gritsievsky, who was released in a hostage deal last year. Since then, Matan has remained in Hamas custody while his family continues to fight for his return.
On the national protest day calling for the release of hostages, Ilana staged a poignant display at Hostages Square. Dressed in a wedding gown beneath a chuppah, she symbolically “married” Matan in his absence. “Matan, my curly-haired one, if you hadn’t been abducted, we could already be married. In a single day, our world was destroyed, and you’re not here to hold me. I’m fighting for you until you come back,” she said.
Matan’s mother, Einav, has emerged as a leading voice in the campaign for the hostages’ release and has sharply criticized Israel’s political leadership, accusing them of undermining potential hostage deals.
RSS
Hamas Rejects Israel’s Gaza Relocation Plan
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Sunday that Israel’s plan to relocate residents from Gaza City constitutes a “new wave of genocide and displacement” for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.
The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel into southern Gaza was a “blatant deception.”
The Israeli military has said it is preparing to provide tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of its plan to relocate residents from combat zones to the south of the enclave “to ensure their safety.”
Hamas said in a statement that the deployment of tents under the guise of humanitarian purposes is a blatant deception intended to “cover up a brutal crime that the occupation forces prepare to execute.”
Israel said earlier this month that it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center. The plan has raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, which is home to about 2.2 million people.