Palestinian Authority’s ugly praise of ‘martyr’ Sinwar

It did not take long for the Palestinian Authority – regarded, naively, by many, including Australian leaders, as the best “moderate” hope for Palestinian statehood – to show its true colours following last week’s killing of Hamas overlord and mass murderer Yahya Sinwar. Earlier this year, the Albanese government abandoned decades of Australian bipartisanship over Israel, turned its back on the US and voted for enhanced Palestinian membership status of the UN. But if Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong thought that boosting the PA was a sensible alternative to Hamas’s leadership in Gaza, weekend events have proved them wrong. Meeting under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, 88, the PA’s component bodies expressed “deep condolences” over what they claimed was the “martyrdom” of Sinwar. Given the extent to which Hamas in Gaza and the PA in Ramallah were often at loggerheads, the PA, a past recipient of Australian aid, declared Sinwar a “great national leader” of the Palestinian people.

Ignoring Sinwar’s role as the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023, slaughter of 1200 Jews and taking of more than 200 hostages, and Hamas’s responsibility for most of the alleged 40,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, Mr Abbas’s Fatah group warned Israel: “Killing and terrorism will not succeed in breaking the will of our people.”

That attitude to Israel’s successful removal of Sinwar, and the opportunity it could offer to end Palestinian suffering, is also evident in Australia, disturbingly. On Sunday, a pro-Palestine Sydney CBD rally heard how Sinwar was “legendary”, a martyr who “died a warrior’s death”. And a Sydney conference stacked with Hizb ut-Tahrir activists and sheiks was told Islam would “dominate … bringing justice to every corner of the world” amid a “civilisational struggle”. One speaker, Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun – employed by the United Muslims of Australia, which has received $1.65m in government funding – said despite Sinwar’s death, he was “elated” and that “victory was coming”, Alexi Demetriadi reports. “I’ve never seen a shift that has occurred like this against the Zionist regime,” he said.

Similar vile claptrap came from Hamas’s remaining leaders, who pledged that hostages held by the terrorists “will not return … unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops”.

Iran’s supposedly “moderate” new President, Masoud Pezeshkian, claimed Sinwar’s death was painful for the world’s freedom-seekers and a clear sign of unstoppable crimes of the “child-killing Zionist occupier regime”.

Amid such belligerence, Hezbollah terrorists upped the ante and launched an assassination attempt on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, targeting a drone strike against his home at Caesarea, in northern Israel. The drones failed to hit their target, and none of the Netanyahu family was at home.

But the message was clear. There is little likelihood that Sinwar’s removal will bring an end to the Middle East conflict soon. Mr Netanyahu and Israel’s military command have been clear in insisting there will be no end to the war in Gaza until all hostages held by the terrorists are released. That pledge deserves the support of all nations that oppose terrorism. No country whose citizens were abducted as Israelis were on October 7, 2023, could respond otherwise. As Tony Blair told Troy Bramston in his Weekend Australian Magazine profile, a two-state solution will not be back on the table until a hostage deal is achieved.