Senior Palestinian Authority (P.A.) officials privately praised the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in its earliest hours, calling it “the greatest day in Palestinian history,” according to a prominent Palestinian researcher.

The claim was made by Hani al-Masri, director general of Masarat, the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies, during a YouTube interview with Palestinian content creator Ahmad Biqawi. When asked how the Palestinian leadership reacted on the morning of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel — which left some 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians — al-Masri said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas viewed the attack in celebratory terms.

Al-Masri described the reaction in Ramallah as one of praise rather than shock or restraint, characterizing the massacre as a historic triumph rather than an act of mass murder.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded forcefully Wednesday, amplifying the interview clip in an official post on X.

“This is the ‘authority’ people want the ‘Palestinian Authority’ to be? A terror-worshiping authority,” the ministry wrote.

The ministry underscored al-Masri’s stature within the Palestinian political ecosystem, noting that he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Yasser Arafat Foundation — a position that makes him deeply familiar with the inner workings and mindset of the P.A.

The revelation comes as the Palestinian Authority continues to present itself to Western governments as a moderate alternative to Hamas and a potential governing partner in postwar Gaza. Israeli officials argue that al-Masri’s remarks expose a starkly different reality.

In the same interview, al-Masri said the P.A. has continued making payments to families of imprisoned terrorists and so-called “martyrs,” despite repeated commitments to the European Union and the United States to dismantle the “pay-for-slay” program.

That practice — under which financial stipends are provided to Palestinians convicted of terrorism and to the families of those killed while carrying out attacks — has been a central point of contention between Israel and the P.A. for years.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar highlighted al-Masri’s comments Wednesday, accusing Abbas of once again deceiving international partners.

“The Palestinian Authority continues to pay terrorists and murderers — and lies about it,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X. He said the P.A. is now attempting to conceal the payments by rebranding them as pensions for members of the Palestinian Security Services.

“This is distorted,” Sa’ar added. “End ‘pay-for-slay’ now!”

Israeli officials say the comments further undermine claims that the P.A. can be reformed or trusted to play a stabilizing role in the region, particularly as Western governments weigh proposals that would elevate Ramallah’s authority after the war in Gaza.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)