Supporters of Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, react to news on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, during a protest to demand a deal to bring every hostage home, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The hundreds of families being emotionally tortured by Hamas as they await the return of their loved ones who were kidnapped over 15 months ago are “whining,” according to the official Palestinian Authority (PA) daily.

The PA has defended, glorified, and celebrated the October 7 atrocities. Now it has added an additional component to its terror support by disparaging Israel’s criticism of Hamas holding the hostages.

And to “prove” its point, the PA says that the ones who are truly suffering are Palestinian prisoners detained under due process for acts of terrorism because they are held in the “camps of barbarous Israel, which are worse than Hitler’s fascist Holocaust furnaces”:

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has turned the facts upside down … It whines about 100 hostages and ignores thousands of Palestinian detainees who have had the most despicable sadistic methods implemented against them in the fortresses and detention camps of barbarous Israel, which are worse than Hitler’s fascist Holocaust furnaces in World War II. [emphasis added]

[Regular columnist Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 25, 2024]

This hate-speech, which is a staple of PA propaganda, both completely scoffs at the suffering of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, and odiously abuses the Holocaust’s memory.

There is no equivalence between the horrific conditions of Israeli hostages held in dungeon-like underground tunnels with no light and scarce food — who face fear of torture, rape, and even murder on a daily basis — and Palestinian terrorists who have excellent prison conditions and regular visits from the International Red Cross.

The suggestion that those Palestinian prisoners endure conditions worse than in Nazi death camps is not only absurd and insulting to the Jewish people, but these dangerous PA libels are now echoed internationally, fueling antisemitism and attacks on Jews worldwide.

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.