The official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, recently published a column urging Hamas to release all of its Israeli hostages unconditionally as a way to bring fighting in Gaza and Lebanon to an end.
The column, translated and highlighted by Palestinian Media Watch, is a sign of a major shift in the balance of power in the region, following Israel’s recent decision to go on the offensive against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Published on September 23 — after the “pager” attack in Lebanon, but before the airstrike on Hassan Nasrallah — the column, by writer Bassem Barhoum, argues that Hamas is only pursuing its own interests and does not actually care about the Palestinian cause.
From Palestinian Media Watch (emphasis removed):
While the PA and Fatah have cheered Hamas’ October 7 massacre and celebrated the recent unity declaration signed in China with Hamas, Palestinian Media Watch has also exposed that the PA at the same time in order to hurt Hamas’ popularity, is very critical of Hamas, blaming them for only looking out for their own and Iran’s interests. The recent column sums up decades of PA criticism of Hamas, blaming Hamas for “never listening” and constantly providing Israel with “excuses” to “eliminate the entire Palestinian cause.”
…
“The Hamas leadership could have announced that it is prepared to return all the [Israeli] hostages just in exchange for stopping the war in the first month already, when it became clear that the Israeli goal is to destroy the Gaza Strip [sic] and even eliminate the entire Palestinian cause [sic]. Today – as we see that Israel has transferred its destructive war to sister Lebanon, and despite the position of Hezbollah leader Sheikh [Hassan] Nasrallah who announced he will continue to support the Gaza Strip – Hamas, as many are urging it, must initiate the cessation of fighting in the Gaza Strip unilaterally and hand over the Israeli hostages in order to prevent the destruction of Lebanon and prevent the continued destruction of the Gaza Strip.”
Earlier in the war, Nasrallah had said that Hezbollah would stop firing at Israeli communities if Israel to agreed a ceasefire in Gaza — one that would have accepted Hamas’s terms, such as ending the war, and only releasing some of the hostages.
Now, given Israel’s advances against Hezbollah, there have been rumors that Israel is suggesting that it would accept a ceasefire in Lebanon only if Hamas agrees to release all of its hotsages.
After Nasrallah’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a speech in which he said that pressure for a deal had shifted to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, now that he “sees that Nasrallah is not coming to save him.”
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are armed and funded by Iran.
There are said to be 101 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, some 33 of whom are presumed dead.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
