Abbas advisor slams Iran for bankrolling Hamas

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “For the last 70 years or 100 years of conflict with the Israeli occupation, from the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) until now, or from the Nakba (i.e., the establishment of Israel) until now, or even in the last 20-30 years, what has Iran given the Palestinian people? How many schools has it built in the West Bank and Gaza Strip? How many mosques has it built? How many hospitals has it built? How many boxes of medicine has it given the Palestinian people? The answer is nothing… Let’s go back and examine the Iranian involvement in the Palestinian cause. The first involvement was the coup carried out by Hamas in the Gaza Strip against the PA and against the Palestinian legitimacy in 2007 (see note below -Ed.)… I think that Hamas is no longer interested in its popularity or anything else, what interests it is who is paying and who is funding.”

Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice.

The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate “responsible for putting into effect the declaration,” which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel’s War of Independence.

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.

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 135 later released or liberated - 19 of them whose bodies were retrieved - and at least 41 who were killed and had their bodies held), 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. Occasional rocket launches and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout 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.