Fatah: Iran Has Not Offered a Dime to the Palestinian People

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)
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Fatah: Iran Has Not Offered a Dime to the Palestinian People

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)

The Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Saturday that the current Iranian government and previous ones have never presented a “dime” to the Palestinian people.

He made his remarks in wake of recent anti-government protests in Tehran in which demonstrators chanted “death to Palestine.” They also condemned all countries that receive Iranian support at the expense of their own interests.

Fatah condemned the “cheap” chants, asking: “Do the Iranian believe that their governments have ever offered a dime to the Palestinian people? This is absolutely false.”

Fatah official spokesman Usama al-Qawasimi said in a statement: “It is shameful for some to believe that the economic crisis in Iran was caused by support to the Palestinian people. Iran has never presented anything to the Palestinians even though Fatah and the Palestinian Liberation Organization supported the 1979 Kohmeini revolution.”

“We have never insulted them by words or actions and we have never meddled in their internal affairs,” he stressed.

“We have never heard of Iran contributing to the construction of a school, university or hospital. We have never seen any development project,” he continued.

The Iranians are very wrong in believing that Tehran’s support for a party means that it supports the Palestinian people, he added.

Qawasimi stated: “Iran has never supported the Palestinian people through its backing for Hamas.”

Moreover, he underlined Fatah and the Palestinian people’s “respect and appreciation” for the Iranian people, condemning the “misleading voices” that do not represent the Iranians, “who support the rights of Palestinians.”

Iranians took to the streets of the capital Tehran earlier this week to protest their country’s poor economic situation.

Videos posted on social media showed them chanting against Palestine, as well as the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. They called on the authorities to “leave Syria and think of us.” They also chanted: “We do not want the Ayatollah” and “death to the dictator.”

In addition, they condemned the authorities for providing financial support for the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad movements, Lebanon’s “Hezbollah”, Yemen’s Houthi militias, Iraqi Shiite groups and the Syrian regime.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah have long rejected Iranian support for any Palestinian faction, saying it would be aimed at stoking division.

Tehran’s support for Hamas has led to major tensions between the PA and Iran in the past.

In March 2009, Abbas made the first open demand to Iran to cease its meddling in Palestinian affairs, accusing it of deepening divisions.

Iran must instead turn its attention to its own issues, he added.



Israel Far-Right Issues Rare Rebuke of Settler Attack on Army

Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)
Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)
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Israel Far-Right Issues Rare Rebuke of Settler Attack on Army

Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)
Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)

An assault by Israeli settlers on soldiers in the occupied West Bank drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, including an unusual rebuke from far-right ministers who typically support the settlement movement.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, considered the two most hardline members of the ruling coalition, called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

The army said dozens of "civilians" attacked its forces on Sunday night at a military base in the central West Bank, vandalizing army vehicles and a security installation.

According to Israeli media, the attackers were settlers who targeted the commander of the military's Binyamin Regional Brigade, calling him a "traitor".

The attack was widely seen as a reprisal for the arrest of six settlers two days earlier.

In that incident, the commander and troops were attacked as they tried to stop settlers entering a closed military zone near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned both attacks, saying "no law-abiding country can tolerate acts of violence and anarchy".

Ben-Gvir was among the last senior figures to react.

"Harming our security forces, security installations and the soldiers who are our children, brothers and defenders, crosses a red line, and must be treated with the utmost severity," he wrote on X.

A lawyer, Ben-Gvir gained a name for himself before entering politics by defending in court several settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

Smotrich wrote on X: "Violence against (Israeli) soldiers and our beloved police forces and the destruction of property are unacceptable."

- West Bank violence -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence has surged there since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following Hamas's October 2023 attack.

Since then, Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 947 Palestinians -- many of them militants, but also scores of civilians -- according to Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 35 Israelis, including both civilians and security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to Israeli official figures.

But settler attacks on army positions are rare.

"It was too much, even for the far-right," said Simon Perry, a security expert and associate professor in the criminology department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"The rioters went overboard," he told AFP.

Nimrod Goren, an expert on foreign relations and a veteran commentator on Israeli politics, said the far-right's outrage at the assault was merely "lip service", however.

Violent assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have become common since 2023, without drawing any criticism from the political class, he noted.

"But when soldiers are affected, all of a sudden people are alerted," said Goren, who is chairman of the Israeli foreign policy think tank Mitvim.

- Settlers' eviction drive -

According to the two Israeli experts, the rioters were part of an informal movement known as the hilltop youth, whose goal is to evict Palestinian residents and establish settlements in the West Bank without government approval.

The movement constitutes a fringe, even among the Religious Zionist movement, the ideological backbone of the settlement enterprise.

Several human rights NGOs have denounced the rise in violence committed by the settlers, and their perceived impunity.

Shortly after his appointment in November 2024, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced an end to administrative detention for West Bank settlers, a practice that allows security forces to detain suspects without charge.

Israeli media say the move emboldened extremist settlers and led to a wave of attacks in the Palestinian territory.

On Tuesday, the Israeli press reported that Katz would not bring it back, contrary to the opinion of Israel's Shin Bet security service.

The measure is still in place for Palestinians.

The recent settler violence against army positions in the West Bank even prompted condemnation from leaders within the movement.

"Those who wish to protest must act according to the law and not confront the army," Oded Revivi, a former mayor of the Efrat settlement, and a prominent settler figure, told AFP.

There are around 160 Israeli settlements scattered throughout the West Bank, which the UN considers illegal. Their residents number about 500,000, living among a population of three million Palestinians.