Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas (L) , with then-PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh sitting next to him, delivers a speech, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Raneen Sawafta / File.

When former Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister and Fatah Central Committee member Muhammad Shtayyeh recently was asked about Hamas’ massacre and atrocities against Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, he smilingly described how he woke up on Oct. 7 to “indescribable scenes.”

But the word “indescribable” did not reflect any horror or rejection of the Hamas terrorists’ murder, rape, and torture of Israelis civilians.

Instead, what was beyond description for then-PA Prime Minister Shtayyeh was the sight of Hamas’ success:

Former PA Prime Minister and Fatah Central Committee member Muhammad Shtayyeh: “I woke up [on Oct. 7, 2023] and… [saw] indescribable scenes: paragliders, border breaches, motorcycles in action, bodies lying around, fires here and there, people returning from the 1948 borders [i.e., Israel] [to the Gaza Strip], people loading things…

The news initially spoke of the killing of 1,400 Israelis within 24 hours. The battle continues, airstrikes, enormous confusion, surprise in Israel.”

[Al-Arabiya TV, YouTube channel, July 29, 2025]

Asked how he would define “the Oct. 7 operation,” Shtayyeh continued to marvel at it, praising it as “daring” and “an important chapter” in Palestinian history.

Next, Shtayyeh continued to endorse the terror attack as “self-defense.”

When asked whether the PA had “condemned Oct. 7,” he answered that the PA had issued a statement saying that “the Palestinian people has the right to defend itself”:

Muhammad Shtayyeh: “In a meeting held on Oct. 7, we [the PA] issued a statement, and one sentence was added to the statement: ‘The Palestinian people has the right to defend itself.’

All the official Palestinian entities, our ambassadors, our ministers, the [PA] presidential office spokesperson, and [I] the prime minister, everyone, all of us were asked one question. The first question that every journalist and every official element opened with was: “Do you condemn Oct. 7?” 

And we used to answer in the same way: That the Palestinian people’s tragedy did not start on Oct. 7, that the Palestinian issue is 76 years old, since 1948, and therefore these are cumulative events, and in any case we believed that the matter [Oct.7] is one of the chapters of the struggle, and one of the chapters of the conflict.” …

Al-Arabiya TV host:“How would you define the Oct. 7 operation now?”

Muhammad Shtayyeh: “Look, the Oct. 7 operation is a daring operation, unprecedented in history, honestly, and it is an important chapter in the history of the Palestinian struggle.” [emphasis added]

[Al-Arabiya TV, YouTube channel, July 29, 2025]

The author is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this story first appeared.