PLO official: Had Hamas wanted unity with PLO we would have had “a Palestinian state”
PLO official: Had Hamas wanted unity with PLO we would have had “a Palestinian state, at least within the 1967 borders”
The video shows Tulkarem District Governor Abdallah Kmeil speaking on Fatah-run Awdah TV
Tulkarem District Governor Abdallah Kmeil: “Hamas came to be a substitute for the PLO. It never saw itself as a partner of the PLO or the national action factions... Unfortunately, Hamas sometimes treated the PA as if it were an enemy, and the proof of this is that it took over Gaza by force of arms... Over the recent period Hamas has not agreed and does not agree to national unity. It wants a unity that will ensure its control over the PLO, control over the political system. It's impossible. You want partnership? Come on, let's do a partnership, and I'm in favor, and all of us in Fatah are in favor of national unity. National unity is sacred for us. We know, feel, and completely understand that national unity is the key to victory. Without unity, we cannot win. They [Hamas] do not understand this… If they understood this, undoubtedly the situation now would be different, and undoubtedly tens of thousands of Martyrs would not have died, and we might now be in a Palestinian state, at least within the June 4, 1967 borders.”
[PA Tulkarem District Governorate, Facebook page, Jan. 18, 2025]
Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - Over 1,100 Israelis, including over 800 civilians, were murdered and over 5,000 wounded, in addition to approximately 251 who were abducted into the Gaza Strip (including 154 later released or liberated - among them 37 whose bodies were retrieved - and at least 41 who were killed on Oct. 7 whose bodies were abducted to Gaza), in a Hamas terror war that began when approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists and thousands of Gazan civilians broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns and attacking a music festival on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. During the massacre the terrorists tortured, raped, shot, beheaded, and burned their victims alive, murdering entire families and leaving at least 21 children without parents. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers.
In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north. Frequent rocket launches, drone attacks, and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout the war, causing Israel to respond with a ground invasion of southern Lebanon on Oct. 1, 2024, after taking out Hezbollah's leadership. In this conflict with Hezbollah over 40 Israeli civilians and over 70 Israeli soldiers were killed and nearly 200 Israelis were wounded. As a result of the attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, roughly 200,000 Israeli residents of the north and south were internally displaced during the war.
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal began on Nov. 24, 2023, in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas. The deal was subsequently extended with additional releases, until Hamas violated the agreement and resumed attacking on Dec. 1, 2023.
A second ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal was announced on Jan. 15, 2025, with implementation to begin on Jan. 19, 2025. According to reports, in the first part of the deal Hamas is to gradually release 23 hostages and 10 bodies of hostages, out of the remaining 98 hostages. In return, Israel is to release around 1,900 terrorist prisoners including at least 250 terrorist murderers, withdraw its forces from central Gaza and various other strategic areas, increase humanitarian aid entry to Gaza, and allow Arab residents to return to northern Gaza, thereby ending the war.
2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip - Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah won the 2005 Palestinian Authority Presidential election. However, Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with a majority of 74 out of 132 seats, to Fatah’s 45 seats. Fatah’s rule of the PA Presidency and Hamas’ rule of the PA government led to friction and eventually armed conflict between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas defeated Fatah militarily in the Gaza Strip in 2007, and since then Hamas rules in Gaza while the PA continues to rule the West Bank under Fatah.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this video do not represent those of Palestinian Media Watch in any way. PMW monitors and analyzes the Palestinian Authority through its media and schoolbooks. For more info visit: http://palwatch.org.