The Blessing That Was and the Condemnation That Wasn’t

As tensions escalate in the Middle East, Hamas applauds Iranian attacks on Israel.

Itamar Marcus and Ephraim D. Tepler, PMW

The Palestinians presented their view of terror through the response by Hamas and the PA to two events this past weekend. One was the Iranian terror attack on Israel with hundreds of drones and ballistic/cruise missiles. The second was the Palestinian terror murder of a 14-year-old Jewish shepherd north of Jerusalem.

Hamas chose to welcome the Iranian terror attack as self-defense while the Palestinian Authority refused to condemn the Palestinian terror attack.

Hamas response to Iranian terror: “We at the Islamic Resistance Movement—Hamas—consider the military action taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Zionist occupying entity to be a natural right and an appropriate response to the crime perpetrated against the Iranian Consulate in Damascus and the murder of the IRGC commanders there.

We underscore the natural right of the countries and people of the region to defend themselves against the Zionist attacks. We call upon our Arabic and Islamic nation, the free nations of the world, and the forces of resistance in the region to continue supporting the Al-Aqsa Flood and the right of our Palestinian nation to freedom and independence as well as the establishment of our Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

[Hamas Movement (Official), Telegram channel, April 14, 2024]

The Palestinian Authority, for its part, wrote an entire article condemning Israeli anger and violence in response to the murder of a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd boy, but never mentioned that the anger was in response to the murder, and certainly did not condemn it. It merely added at the end of the article:

“…Israeli sources announced yesterday that the body of a murdered settler was found between the villages of Al-Mughayyir and Duma.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 14, 2024]

It is also significant that Hamas’ justification of the Iranian attack on Israel was a copy of the Palestinian Authority’s justification of the Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Hamas said Iran’s attack was a “natural right” to defend itself.

Mahmoud Abbas and the PA also presented the Oct. 7 massacre by the Palestinians as self-defense. On Oct. 7:

“[PA] President [Abbas] instructs to provide defense to our people and emphasizes our right to defend ourselves.”

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Oct. 7, 2023]

Two days later, even after the scope of the terror and atrocities was known, Abbas “again emphasized our people’s right to defend itself and its members from the occupation’s aggression.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 9, 2023]

To sum up: When an Israeli child is murdered by Palestinians, it is not condemned and barely mentioned. When massive attacks against Israel cannot be ignored, both the PA and Hamas will present them as self-defense.