In a remarkably blunt critique of the Hamas terror organization, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, a senior advisor to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, accused the group of prioritizing its own survival and power over the lives of innocent civilians.
Speaking on the Al-Arabiya Network’s Mazeej Podcast on April 29, 2026, Al-Habbash laid out a scathing indictment of the group’s conduct since the outbreak of the current war. His remarks were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
"I am worried that Hamas's top priority is to continue to rule Gaza, even over the skulls of children. I am worried that this is the case," he said.
When asked by the interviewer if there were concrete signs of this priority, Al-Habbash pointed to the ongoing internal oppression of Gazans. He described a reality where the terror group continues to function as a predatory force against its own population, even amidst a humanitarian crisis.
"Of course. Everything in Gaza indicates this. To this day, Hamas persecutes people, shoots people, beats people up, collects taxes from people, extorts money from people, arrests people and forces them to pay money... To this day! 70,000-100,000 martyrs, 200,000-300,000 injured people, and 80% of Gaza destroyed, and nobody [in Hamas] cares."
The senior PA official also addressed the origins of the current devastation, identifying the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on October 7 as the primary catalyst for the suffering of the Palestinian Arab people. He utilized the word "accursed" to describe the date, framing it as the moment that sealed Gaza’s fate.
"It is the accursed October 7 that brought us to this point."
Al-Habbash further clarified that Hamas’s presence as a "militia" set a dangerous precedent that destabilized the region long before the current conflict began. He noted that as the first such group formed in the Strip, it naturally spawned the cycle of violence and competing factions currently tearing the territory apart.
"The first militia that was formed in the Gaza Strip was Hamas. Therefore, it is only natural that there will be opposing militias and groups."
Al-Habbash previously called for the formation of a "popular and national stance" demanding that Hamas leave the Gaza Strip.
However, despite his criticism of Hamas, Al-Habbash has also incited against Israel.
In 2017, he blasted the security measures taken by Israel following a terror attack on the Temple Mount, saying they constitute a blatant violation of the conventions and decisions of international institutions regarding the status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Also that year, Habbash gave a sermon which was attended by Abbas himself, during which he warned the US against moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Doing so, Habbash said at the time, would be a “declaration of war".
In 2018, he compared Israel’s restrictions on access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Nazi methods.
In 2022, after Abbas accused Israel of committing “50 holocausts" against Palestinian Arabs, Habbash defended the statement, claiming that that “all the leaders of the [Israeli] occupation joined together in attacking Abbas, because he is defending his people and he wants to remind the world of the massacres against them."
In May of 2024, Al-Habbash threatened Israel with more massacres following October 7, saying, “If the Palestinian cause will not be justly, comprehensively, and permanently resolved, at least on the basis of international legitimacy, at least on the basis of the UN resolutions, then October 7 can repeat itself 100 times, and perhaps even more seriously."