Host: “Do you think that what happened on Oct. 7, [2023] (i.e., Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre and war against Israel) was an opportunity for a comprehensive Palestinian confrontation, but that was missed?” 

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We do not judge or analyze what happened on Oct. 7 from the perspective of whether it is a Palestinian right or not. It is the Palestinian’s right to resist (i.e., commit terror) and the Palestinian’s right to defend himself.

This is legitimate, no one disputes this point… An event or action is not analyzed by itself, from the perspective of whether it is legitimate or not.

It must also be analyzed according to its results.

As for the results of what happened on Oct. 7... The consequences and results are catastrophic.

This was an opportunity for Israel, firstly to get rid of the internal tensions between the government and the opposition. It united the Israeli position.”

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, June 10, 2026]

Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice.