Noa Ben Artzi speaking on Tuesday in Washington, DC, about surviving the Nova music festival massacre. Photo: Screenshot

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has blamed Israel for Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, claiming that it was Israeli army helicopters that intentionally bombed young Israelis at the Nova music festival and destroyed the “settlements” in southern Israel.

The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the added audacity to claim that it was just repeating an Israeli police report that was in the Israeli press.

As soon as the outrageous libel was publicized and Israel condemned it, the PA apparently realized that it had exposed itself as untrustworthy frauds, and quickly removed the announcement from its website.

However, Palestinian Media Watch had already made a screenshot of the announcement. The following is a translation of the full PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs report:

Headline: “The [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates: The Israeli police’s initial investigation reveals the falsehood of the media materials that the occupation falsified in order to justify its aggression against the Gaza Strip 

According to the [Israeli] Hebrew media, the Israeli police’s initial investigation proved that Israeli helicopters bombed the Israeli civilians who participated in the nature party on Oct. 7 [sic., refers to Nov. 18, 2023, Haaretz report that one Israeli army helicopter firing at Hamas terrorists may have accidentally also hit some Israeli civilians; the [Israeli] police have denied this report).

This means that Israeli military aircraft caused great destruction in the area and in some of the settlements [i.e., Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip], after the so-called ‘Hannibal Directive’ was activated, which allows the occupation police and occupation army to kill everyone.

Therefore, the ministry thinks that the conclusions of the aforementioned investigation cast doubt on the Israeli versions regarding the destruction and killing that took place in that area, especially on everything concerning the images and videos showing the destruction and the fires that broke out in many houses as a result of this bombing.

The ministry demands that all media outlets, senior UN officials, and heads of state monitor this topic, show interest in the Hebrew media publications on the topic, and reexamine their positions in light of this. [emphasis added]

[Website of the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nov. 19, 2023]