Palestinian Authority Presents Terrorists Killed By Israel As Murdered Civilians, While It Fights Terrorists From The Same Organizations

As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue to fight the terrorist militias in the West Bank, especially in its northern regions, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its officials continue to refer to Palestinian terrorists killed in the course of this fighting as innocent civilians murdered by Israel, while concealing their involvement in terrorism.[1] The real identity of the individuals killed is evident from social media posts by the terror organizations themselves, which confirm that they were terrorist operatives, and from pictures that show them bearing arms and wearing the organizations' uniforms.

Moreover, some of the terrorists killed during IDF operations in the West Bank in recent months also served simultaneously in the PA's security forces, which are meant to be fighting the terrorist militias. Naturally, in these cases too, the PA conceals their involvement in terrorism and makes sure to honor the terrorists and describe them as "martyred heroes."[2] 

Presenting these terrorists as innocent civilians, while deliberately ignoring their involvement in terrorism[3] is characteristic of the discourse and the media coverage of the PA, which, in recent months, has been conducting a military campaign against the Jenin Brigade terrorist militia, which is challenging its rule in the West Bank.[4] This crackdown is taking place concurrently with the IDF's operation against the same terrorist organizations.[5]

This report presents instances in which the PA media presented the killing of terrorists as the murder of civilians.

PA Presents All Palestinians Killed By Israel As Civilians, Even When They Are Terrorists

As part of their counterterrorism operations in the West Bank, the Israeli security forces carry out airstrikes against concentrations of armed terrorists. Many of those killed in these attacks are members of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), whom the PA regards as mercenaries of the Iranian regime that is seeking to overthrow its rule in the West Bank.[6] Despite this, in reporting their deaths the PA media consistently presents them as civilians and disregards their terrorist activities.

For example, following Israeli airstrikes in the Tulkarm and Nur Al-Shams refugee camps in the Tulkarm Governorate, the PA local governor, Mustafa Taqatqa, told the WAFA news agency on December 25, 2024, that Israel was carrying out "an ongoing attack on civilians."[7] This was despite the fact that the attacks targeted terrorists such as Jum'a Salem and Mahmoud A'mar from Hamas's military wing;[8] Amran Al-Haroun, Qusay Akasha and Muhaimin Al-Akhras from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade,[9] and Fathi Abid from the PIJ military wing.[10]

From left to right: in the first photograph there are two figures, Jum'a Salem is the one who is not holding a weapon, the photograph on the right shows Mahmoud A'mar from the Hamas military wing (Images: X.com/Qadeyah1, t.me/tulkarmalmhem, December 24, 2024)

From left to right: Muhaimin Al-Akhras, Qusay Akasha, and Amran Al-Haroun from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Images: T.me/nurshamstulkarem, t.me/tulkarem1, December 24, 2024)

PA News Agency Presents Terrorists Responsible For Deadly Attacks As Civilians

Even slain terrorists who were responsible for shootings in which Israeli civilians were killed and wounded are described in the PA media as civilians. For instance, the killing of Ja'far Ahmad Dababsa, a senior Hamas commander who planned an attack in which three Israelis were killed,[11] was presented as the murder of an innocent civilian. Reporting on this incident on January 7, 2025, WAFA stated that  an Israeli force infiltrated the village of Al-Badhan at dawn and shot the "civilian" Dababsa while he was standing outside his home; he later died of his wounds.[12] Hamas's military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, announced the same day that Dababsa was the "mastermind" behind the January 6 shooting near Al-Funduq, carried out in coordination with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the PIJ military wing.[13]  

Hamas obituaries for "the martyred commander" of its military wing, Ja'far Dababsa (Images: T.me/qassambrigades, t.me/hamas_wb, January 7, 2025)

On November 29, 2024, the PA mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported on "the martyrdom of the civilian Samer Hussein, who was shot dead by Israeli forces" that day near Salfit, and questioned Israel's claim that he had carried out a shooting attack.[14] Hamas, on the other hand, had no compunction about announcing that Hussein was one of its operatives and had carried out a shooting in which nine Israelis were wounded.[15]

Hamas obituary for "the martyred jihad fighter" Samer Hussein (Image: T.me/qassambrigades, November 29, 2024)

How The PA Media Obscures The Individuals' Identity As Terrorists

One of the ways in which the PA media obscures these individuals' involvement in terrorism and presents them as civilians is by publishing "innocent" pictures of them. This was done, for example, in the case of Yazen Al-Hassan and Amir Abu Hassan, who were killed in Jenin on January 30, 2025. A report on their deaths by the PA's WAFA news agency described them as "young men" killed by the IDF, and was accompanied by photographs showing them unarmed and in civilian clothing.[16] However, photographs on social media show them wearing military vests and armed with various weapons, for they were both commanders of the Jenin Brigade, which is subordinate to the PIJ military wing.[17] Another report stated that Abu Hassan was a member of Hamas's military wing.[18]

Photos of Yazen Al-Hassan and Amir Abu Hassan on social media platforms associated with the terrorist organizations (T.me/jeniincamp, January 30, 2025; t.me/qassambrigades, February 2, 2025)

Photos of the two in the PA's WAFA report (Wafa.ps, January 30, 2025)

Fatah On Officers In PA Security Forces Who Also Operated As Terrorists: "Brave Martyrs"

Furthermore, some of the militants who belonged to terrorist organizations and were killed in recent months were simultaneously serving as officers in the PA security forces, which are meant to be fighting terrorism. They too were presented in the PA media as "young men" or innocent civilians. The reports did not mention their involvement in terrorism and sometimes even neglected to mention their service in Palestinian security apparatuses. On the other hand, Fatah, the ruling party in the PA, tends to present them as national heroes.

This was the case with Qassem Aklik, a PA security officer who was also a member of the Nablus Brigade terror militia. On January 30, 2025, the PA news agency WAFA reported that an IDF undercover force had shot dead a "young man" in Nablus, without providing any further details.[19] Fatah issued obituaries for the "martyred hero," which revealed him to be an officer in the Palestinian National Security Forces. Concurrently, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization issued notices claiming him as one of its "knights" and describing him as "a heroic martyred commander" and "one of the fiercest fighters of the Nablus Brigade."[20]

Obituaries for the "martyred hero" Qassem Aklik on Fatah-affiliated social media accounts (Facebook.com/kgddygdghr, facebook.com/fatehmediaps, January 30, 2025)

The terrorist Qassem Aklik (Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005291133227, February 9, 2025)

A similar example appeared in a report about the death of an officer in the PA Preventive Security Force named Hassan Rabaiya, who was a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. On January 5, 2025, WAFA reported that an Israel army force surrounded the home of an officer in the PA Preventive Security Force named Hassan Rabaiya in Meithalun, south of Jenin, and shot and seriously wounded him, which led to his subsequent death.[21] The Fatah movement released a statement claiming that the officer named Rabaiya was killed "defending the Palestinian national project,"[22] and in somewhat of a departure from his usual approach, a statement in a similar vein was posted by the spokesman for the PA security apparatuses, Anwar Rajab, which stated that Rabaiya was killed "while fulfilling his national duty." On an image of Rabaiya that appeared with the statement he was described as a fida’i – one who heroically sacrifices his life.[23]

Not surprisingly, Rajab, the PA media, and the Fatah movement neglected to mention that Rabaiya was also a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization, a fact which emerged when the organization issued a statement which imparted the information that "the martyr" and "the knight" Rabaiya was a "field commander" with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.[24]

The statement issued in memory of Hassan Rabaiya by the spokesman for the PA security apparatuses (Source: Facebook.com/PSF.Spokesman, January 5, 2025)

The terrorist Hassan Rabaiya on his Facebook page (Source: Facebook.com/hassan.rabaya.54, April 19, 2019)