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

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is once again boasting that most Palestinian terrorists are from its ruling party, Fatah, with the district governor of Jericho announcing on PA TV that the numbers stand at 85%.

He continued by proudly noting that “most Martyrs … in the struggle against the criminals” — criminals being his term for Israelis — are also Fatah members.

The PA TV host enthusiastically chimed in that terrorist Martyrs “are more honorable than all of us together,” and Hamayel echoed the sentiment without hesitation.

Jericho District Governor Hussein Hamayel: “Today, 85% of the prisoners [i.e., terrorists] are Fatah members … Most Martyrs who ascended to Heaven … in the struggle against the criminals are Fatah members … This does not mean that a Martyr from Fatah is different than a Martyr from other [factions].”

Official PA TV host: “They are more honorable than all of us together.”

Hamayel: “The Martyrs are more honorable than all of us together.”

[Official PA TV, June 13, 2026]

There is more to Hamayel’s gloating than pride, however. It is also a designed political statement. To understand it, one must understand the PA’s precarious political position.

The PA is not popular.

Poll after poll has shown that since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and atrocities, Hamas commands significantly more support among Palestinians than Fatah. The PA is fighting for its political survival, and its currency in the Palestinian political marketplace is “resistance,” a euphemism for violence against Israelis.

In this marketplace, Hamayel’s boast makes perfect sense. He is essentially making Fatah’s campaign pitch to a Palestinian public that increasingly views Hamas as the more committed and effective “resistance” movement. His message: Don’t count us out. We have more prisoners. We have more Martyrs. We are the original resistance.

This is a fundamental PA claim, and Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has documented it repeatedly, such as when Mahmoud Abbas’ senior adviser, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, scoffed at Hamas’ claims to be the authentic armed resistance movement, pointing out that “Hamas did not bear arms until 1990,” whereas “the PLO … has borne arms since 1964.”

Similarly, PA Tulkarem District Governor Abdallah Kmeil has gloated that the PA Security Forces have provided more Martyrs than Hamas and Islamic Jihad combined.

PMW has written extensively in its report, “Terrorists in Uniform,” about how the PA has bragged openly about its security forces’ involvement in terror.

The statements by Habbash and Kmeil actually reflect the PA/Fatah’s ideology, declared ever since the days of Yasser Arafat, that violence against Israel is not something from which to distance oneself but a source of pride and a basis for political legitimacy.

The “armed struggle,” a long-standing euphemism for terrorism, is the very foundation of Palestinian national identity. Whoever has committed the most of it deserves the most respect.

The very fact that the PA feels compelled to measure itself against Hamas points to something larger. While the PA seeks to distinguish itself from Hamas, it simultaneously courts Hamas because Hamas has what the PA desperately lacks — popular legitimacy, and thus unity with Hamas is a lifeline.

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub has been among the most explicit voices calling for this unity, as PMW cited last month, following Fatah’s Eighth General Conference in May 2026.

At the same conference, a released terrorist prisoner, Khairy Salameh, speaking as a representative of Palestinian prisoners, who had received the most votes for Fatah leadership, called on the PA to make “national reconciliation” with Hamas its top priority. He asserted that this would “inject new blood into Fatah” and produce “a unified political program” against Israel.

The fact that a convicted terrorist was given the floor at an official Fatah conference to call for unity with Hamas and was applauded rather than rebuked says everything about the PA’s political problems.

Released terrorist prisoner Khairy Salameh: “The role of the prisoners [i.e., terrorists] is a central role in the Fatah Conference because we have been waiting for a long time for the opportunity to inject new blood into Fatah to revive our Fatah and its organizational and national program. Fatah is the lever of the Palestinian people and the struggles and sacrifices of the prisoners and Martyrs … The message of the prisoners to our Palestinian leadership and the new leadership is that the main concern and priority should be the issue of national reconciliation [between Fatah and Hamas].”

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, May 15, 2026]

The West Must Stop Pretending

For years, Western governments and international institutions have treated the Palestinian Authority as a moderate alternative to Hamas, as a partner for diplomacy, and as worthy of governing a Palestinian state. The PA actively cultivates this image in diplomatic settings, presenting itself as a force for negotiation and civil governance.

The PA’s own leaders on its official television and social media channels, however, tell a very different story. They brag about terrorist prisoners. They honor Martyrs who died killing Israelis. They call for unity with Hamas and describe Israel as run by “neo-Nazis.”

The PA has made terror its primary political credential and is proud of it.

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.