Partygoers at the Supernova Psy-Trance Festival who filmed the events that unfolded on Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: Yes Studios

One of Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas’ top aides still celebrates Hamas’ massacre and slaughter of over 1,100 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023 as “legitimate resistance.”

Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, used the word “legitimate” five times in reference to the Oct. 7 massacre.

Al-Habbash then added that the only problem with Oct. 7 is the “catastrophic consequences” of tens of thousands of Palestinians casualties in the Gaza Strip, which makes “what Hamas carried out illegitimate”:

Al-Habbash: “What happened on Oct. 7, [2023,] what Hamas carried out on Oct. 7, I start from the assumption that resistance is legitimate. We agreed from the start that the resistance is legitimate, and no one can dispute the legitimacy of the resistance …

What happened on Oct. 7 is a legitimate thing, okay?

It’s legitimate, but its consequences? … 60,000 [unverified Hamas statistics] people were killed … [t]his makes the thing illegitimate. Therefore, what Hamas carried out in terms of its consequences is illegitimate because it led to catastrophic consequences.” [emphasis added]

Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, March 11, 2025]

This terror support echoes past statements Mahmoud Abbas himself, explaining that the reason the PA has not renewed violent conflict with Israel since the Second Intifada (the PA’s terror campaign 2000-2005) was not because Abbas opposes violence, but because the Palestinians were not prepared militarily and because a war would heavily damage the infrastructure of the Palestinian areas:

Abbas: “We tried the [Second] Intifada [i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered] in 2000, and it destroyed everything that we had built. If the Arabs would want to fight, we’d be the first to fight.

I told them at the [Arab] Summit in Sirt [Libya]: ‘If you want war, take the lead.‘ It’s not possible for us [Palestinians] to go ahead alone; they must be first, with us behind them.” [emphasis added]

[Al-Ayyam, independent Palestinian newspaper, Sept. 6, 2010]

Similarly to Al-Habbash, a spokesman of Abbas’ Fatah party, Iyad Abu Zneit, stated that “if Oct. 7 hadn’t happened,” the Gaza Strip would not have been destroyed. He did not blame Hamas, though.

Rather, he blamed Israel, claiming that Israel “is always waiting for [Palestinian] mistakes”:

Fatah Spokesman Iyad Abu Zneit: “If Israel could have not left any Palestinian alive in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip since 1967, it would have done so.

Israel is always waiting for [Palestinian] mistakes. For example, after Oct. 7, [2023,] Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and carried out this destruction in the Gaza Strip. If Oct. 7 hadn’t happened, this wouldn’t have happened [emphasis added]

[Al-Hadath TV, YouTube channel, March 19, 2025]

The PA has never expressed criticism of the terror and atrocities of Oct 7. It has only criticized Hamas for the destruction it has brought in its wake.

Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch.