Fatah condemns Iran for spreading chaos and violence across Judea and Samaria

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The Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority, blasted the Iranian regime on Wednesday for seeking to spread violence and chaos across Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.

Fatah, a political rival of the terror organization Hamas, stated it would not permit "our sacred cause and the blood of our people to be exploited" by external players.

While relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are currently tense, both sides have a strong interest in preventing the expanding terror influence of Hamas and its patron Iran. A month ago, Israel Defense Forces prevented a smuggling attempt of advanced weapons to reach terror groups based in Judea and Samaria.

While Hamas' main power base is in the Gaza Strip, the terror organization enjoys widespread popularity among some members of the population in the PA, which is led by President Mahmoud Abbas. Pro-Hamas sentiments have significantly increased since the Oct. 7 massacre of southern border communities by Hamas terrorists.

Prior to the ongoing war in Gaza, there was a rise in terror attacks across Judea and Samaria. While Israelis, and particularly Jewish settlers, remain the direct targets of this terrorism, Hamas and its patron Iran use terror activity as a tool to undermine Fatah and weaken the PA.

In June 2023, an unnamed PA official warned that the Tehran regime’s influence had already reached the West Bank: “Iran is already here, in the West Bank.”

“The Iranians want their Palestinian agents to extend their control from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank,” the official added.

The Iranian-backed terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an ally of Hamas in Gaza, also uses terror as a tool to extend its influence across Judea and Samaria. While Hamas has some independence from Tehran, PIJ is fully controlled and financed by the Iranian regime.

“Islamic Jihad is using Iranian money to buy weapons and loyalty in the West Bank,” the PA official warned last year, adding: “The organization is paying high salaries to its members.”

The Iranian general, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander in the elite Quds Force, was assassinated in Damascus, Syria this week in an aerial attack widely attributed to Israel.

Zahedi was Tehran’s point man in coordinating terror activities in Syria and Lebanon, and maintained close contacts with terrorist groups in Gaza. He was reportedly eliminated while holding a meeting with various terrorist factions including Hezbollah and the PIJ.

In addition, Zahedi was a central player in Tehran’s effort to encircle Israel with what is known as "a ring of terror," stretching from Lebanon and Syria in the north to Gaza and the West Bank in the south. He allegedly backed anti-American terror militias in Syria and Iraq, as well.

This week, Palestinian Authority officials indicated that they are currently seeking political ambitions to renew its efforts to become a UN member state. However, Washington has signaled that it would likely block its unilateral efforts.

“We are seeking admission. That is our natural and legal right,” Palestinian representative at the UN, Riyad Mansour said on Wednesday.

“We have always made clear that, while we support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state… that is something that should be done through direct negotiations through the parties — something we are pursuing at this time — and not at the United Nations,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated.