People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

Fatah is refusing to give up its status among Palestinians as the leading terror organization targeting Israelis.

Seeing Hamas’ popularity surge among Palestinians after the October 7 Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel, Fatah — the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s ruling party — has stressed throughout the war that it has more terrorists, prisoners, and “Martyrs” against Israel “than any other faction.”

Already on October 7, Fatah was bragging that it participated in Hamas’ massacre, so as not to be left out of popular Palestinian support for the atrocities.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) published a video showing terrorists wearing yellow Fatah headbands participating in the terror invasion. Throughout the video, chants of “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is greatest”) are played in the background.

Note that Nahal Oz is not a military base, as claimed by Fatah in the video, but is an Israeli civilian kibbutz, and that most of those murdered on October 7 by Hamas and Fatah terrorists were Israeli civilians.

Since then, Fatah has continued to brag that “more than two-thirds” of terrorist prisoners are from Fatah, and that Fatah was active on the terror scene “even before” October 7. They also emphasize the great number of dead Fatah terrorists — the so-called “Martyrs” — who are also said to far outnumber Hamas’ “Martyrs” in general.

Furthermore, Fatah officials take pride in the fact that not only are their members terrorists, but, at the same time, some of them are also members of the PA Security Forces carrying out a double role as police officers by day and terrorists by night, as PMW has reported in the past.

Western leaders have been eager to promote Fatah and the PA as “moderates” who are suitable to form a new government in the Gaza Strip “the day after” the war. They would do well to read and watch these statements, and understand who the PA and Fatah really are.

Fatah official brags: Fatah has more terrorists than any other faction

Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki: “We [in Fatah] are peaceful, but our Martyrs [i.e., dead terrorists] are more numerous than the Martyrs of all the factions combined,and also our prisoners [i.e., terrorists] are more than two-thirds of the prisoners in the prisons.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, May 16, 2024]

Fatah official brags: “Even before” Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, Fatah “had already sacrificed more than 133,000 Martyrs”

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Abdallah Kmeil: “Even before Oct. 7, we had already sacrificed more than 133,000 Martyrs, and these are Fatah’s statistics. Fatah alone sacrificed 133,000 Martyrs throughout the years of the Palestinian revolution.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, May 21, 2024]

Fatah: Most terrorist “Martyrs” are from PA Security Forces or Fatah

Fatah Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Nazzal: “In recent years, most of the Martyrs  were from the [PA] Security [Forces] or from Fatah, and this has significance and meaning that everyone sees. The West Bank, in other words the PA, as you see is not in a state of repose, calm, submission, or waiting.” [emphasis added]

[Alghad TV (Egypt), YouTube channel, March 21, 2024]

Fatah spokesman brags of Fatah terror: “More than half” of terrorist prisoners are from Fatah, some are PA Security Forces members

Fatah Spokesman Abd Al-Fattah Doleh: “Most of the Martyrs in the West Bank since the aggression [i.e., Gaza war] and even before that are Fatah members. More than that, they’re from the [PA] Security Forces… More than half of the prisoners in the occupation’s (i.e., Israel’s) prisons are Fatah members. The other half, in other words, less than half are from all the rest of the factions together. 90% more or less of the Martyrs who ascended to Heaven in the Palestinian West Bank are from Fatah.” [emphasis added]

[“Fateh_Pal65,” X (Twitter) account, Nov. 20, 2023]

Fatah Deputy Secretary: “A great number of the Martyrs are members of [the PA] security forces and Fatah activists”

Fatah Central Committee Deputy Secretary Sabri Saidam [in a] speech he gave on behalf of Fatah … emphasized that … those who ask where Fatah stands regarding what is happening [in the Gaza Strip], the answer lies in how a great number of the Martyrs who have ascended to Heaven in the Gaza Strip and West Bank are members of its security forces and Fatah activists. .. and how more than half of the prisoners are Fatah members” [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, Dec. 31, 2023]

Fatah official: Even Hamas and Islamic Jihad admit “majority of life-sentenced” terrorists are from Fatah 

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Abdallah Kmeil: “Even Hamas and the Hamas leaders say, and the brothers in Islamic Jihad also say that the great majority of those who were sentenced to long [prison] terms, the life-sentenced prisoners in the Israeli prison, are Fatah Movement members and [PA] Security Forces members.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Dec. 18, 2023]

Fatah spokesman: “More than half” of the terrorists in prison “are from Fatah”

Official Fatah Spokesman Abd Al-Fattah Doleh: “Today we are speaking about nearly 8,000 prisoners inside the occupation’s  prisons. More than half of the prisoners’ movement are from Fatah, and the remaining less than half are from the rest of the factions together. This shows that Fatah still adheres to the benefit of the struggle. It has carried the flag of armed struggle, it carried the flag of popular resistance in the Stone Intifada (i.e., 200 Israelis murdered), it returned to armed resistance in the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., 1,100 Israelis murdered), and today it is in favor of popular resistance (i.e., violence and terror), and these strategies change and replace each other at every stage, but Fatah has not abandoned any one of its (i.e., terror) options.” [emphasis added]

[Falestinona, Fatah’s Information and Culture Commission in Lebanon, YouTube channel, Jan. 1, 2024]

Fatah official in Lebanon: “75%” of terrorist prisoners are from Fatah

“Secretary of Fatah and the PLO factions in Lebanon Fathi Abu Al-Ardat said: ‘59 years of Martyrs – tens and even hundreds of thousands of Martyrs – of wounded, and of heroic prisoners in the occupation’s prisons. Yes, 75% of these prisoners are from Fatah, with full honor and pride.’” [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, Dec. 31, 2023]

Fatah official stresses Fatah’s support for Hamas, “all Palestinian forces are fighting” against Israel

Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi: “The Israeli steps and the situation that existed before Oct. 7 are what led to what happened on Oct. 7 … Everything that happened is what led to this explosion…In the West Bank, all the Palestinian forces are fighting against the occupation. They are all united and are everywhere and in all the cities, fighting as one with a joint decision against this occupation and against this aggression.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi, Facebook page, Oct. 25, 2023]

Fatah official: “Fatah has never relinquished the rifle” and “participates” in Hamas’ war on Israel

Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi: “Who said that Fatah is not participating in the fighting (i.e., Hamas’ terror war on Israel)? Who gave you this information and misled you that we are not participating? … All the Palestinian organizations in the West Bank are fighting and coordinating among themselves on the ground… How many Martyrs are from Fatah? … Fatah has never relinquished the rifle, and it has never relinquished the struggle.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi, Facebook page, Nov. 18, 2023]

PLO official: “No Palestinian will condemn” massacre of Israel on Oct. 7, Hamas and Fatah “together in struggle until [Israel] disappears”

Head of the PLO Political and National Guidance Commission and PA Security Forces Spokesperson Talal Dweikat: “Not just His Honor President Mahmoud Abbas. They will not find [one] Palestinian who will make a decision like this and condemn what happened on Oct. 7… Currently the [Hamas-Fatah] rift in the Palestinian mindset is already behind us. Today we are all united against this [Israeli] aggression, and the occupation and all those attempting to break the Palestinian unity will be unable to succeed with these plans… We will continue together in our struggle at all levels until this occupation disappears, and until a Palestinian boy and girl wave the flag of Palestine from the minarets, walls, and churches in Jerusalem.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Nov. 12, 2023]

Fatah official two weeks after Hamas’ massacre on Oct. 7: “We are united and aiming our bullets” at Israel

Fatah Nablus Branch Secretary Muhammad Hamdan: “We as the Palestinian people are united in all the arenas of confrontation. We are united and aiming our bullets at the occupier and at the settlers.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Movement – Nablus Branch, Facebook page, Oct. 21, 2023]

For decades, PMW has documented that the PA and Fatah glorify and financially reward terror, profiling themselves to Palestinians as leading the terror campaign against Israel. For example, at the end of 2022, Fatah stressed that it had murdered 20 Israelis that year and that 90% of terrorist “Martyrs” were Fatah members. Back in 2016, PMW exposed that Fatah took pride in the fact that it has murdered 11,000 Israelis.

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.