Former PA Prime Minister Muhammed Shtayyeh referred to the October 7th massacre as self-defense.
By Rachel Avraham
According to a recent report in Palestinian Media Watch, “When former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister and Fatah Central Committee member Muhammad Shtayyeh recently was asked about Hamas’ massacre and atrocities against Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, he described how he woke up on Oct. 7 to “indescribable scenes.””
Palestinian Media Watch continued, “But the word “indescribable” did not reflect any horror or rejection of Hamas terrorists’ murder, rape, and torture of Israelis civilians. What was beyond description for then PA Prime Minister Shtayyeh was the sight of Hamas’ success.”
Former PA Prime Minister and Fatah Central Committee member Muhammad Shtayyeh proclaimed: “I woke up [on Oct. 7, 2023] and… [saw] indescribable scenes: paragliders, border breaches, motorcycles in action, bodies lying around, fires here and there, people returning from the 1948 borders (i.e., Israel) [to the Gaza Strip], people loading things…
The news initially spoke of the killing of 1,400 Israelis within 24 hours. The battle continues, airstrikes, enormous confusion, surprise in Israel.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, “Asked how he would define “the Oct. 7 operation,” Shtayyeh continued to marvel at it, praising it as “daring” and “an important chapter” in Palestinian history. Shtayyeh continued to endorse the terror attack as “self-defense.” When asked whether the PA had “condemned Oct. 7,” he answered that the PA had issued a statement saying that “the Palestinian people has the right to defend itself.””
Former PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh declared on Al Arabiya TV: “In a meeting held on Oct. 7, we [the PA] issued a statement, and one sentence was added to the statement: ‘The Palestinian people has the right to defend itself.’ All the official Palestinian entities, our ambassadors, our ministers, the [PA] presidential office spokesperson, and [I] the prime minister, everyone, all of us were asked one question. The first question that every journalist and every official element opened with was: “Do you condemn Oct. 7?” And we used to answer in the same way: That the Palestinian people’s tragedy did not start on Oct. 7, that the Palestinian issue is 76 years old, since 1948, and therefore these are cumulative events, and in any case we believed that the matter [Oct.7] is one of the chapters of the struggle, and one of the chapters of the conflict.” …
The Al-Arabiya TV host asked: “How would you define the Oct. 7 operation now?” Shtayyeh replied: “Look, the Oct. 7 operation is a daring operation, unprecedented in history, honestly, and it is an important chapter in the history of the Palestinian struggle.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, “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.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, “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.”
Palestinian Media Watch continued, “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 began to be implemented on Jan. 19, 2025. Hamas was to gradually release 23 hostages and 10 bodies of hostages, out of the remaining 98 hostages. In return, Israel was to gradually 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. The first stage of the deal ended on March 1, and after Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the deal, the fighting resumed.”
Photo from Palestinian Media Watch: https://palwatch.org/page/41507
