Palestinians did not want October 7 and are now interested more in security than they are in fighting Israel or serving Iran’s interests in the region, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, an advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said on Thursday, Palestinian Media Watch reported.
Palestinian Media Watch is an Israeli NGO that says it monitors material in Palestinian media that promotes hatred and terrorism in order to expose and educate on such content.
“The Palestinian people did not want October 7, and it was not consulted with about Oct. 7,” Al-Habbash said. “And now it wants a ceasefire and for the aggression to stop.”
Did Palestinians want October 7?
While recent polling published by the Palestinian Center for Survey and Policy Research has shown that belief among Palestinians that it was the correct decision for Hamas to launch its October 7 attacks on Israel is down slightly from December and March, two-thirds still believe it was the correct decision.
Further, according to the same poll, nearly two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would prefer to see Hamas in control of Gaza.
Still, this month and last month, the BBC and the New York Times have reported that more and more Gazans are willing to speak out against Hamas.
Recent videos have shown Gazans decrying Hamas’s leadership and Hamas members beating Gazan civilians for allegedly stealing food donated from international aid.
On Thursday, the BBC reported that residents of Gaza have told the British broadcaster that it had become common to hear swearing and cursing against Hamas in the marketplaces of the Strip.
“This is the Palestinian people,” Al-Habbash continued, “And if they [Hamas] want to imagine that there is another people, let them ask the Palestinian people. Let them ask the 2.5 million in the Gaza Strip what they want.... Do they want October 7? Do they want Iran? Do they want the interests of the region? Or do they want to save their children’s lives?”