PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “For the last 70 years or 100 years of conflict with the Israeli occupation, from the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) until now, or from the Nakba (i.e., the establishment of Israel) until now, or even in the last 20-30 years, what has Iran given the Palestinian people? How many schools has it built in the West Bank and Gaza Strip? How many mosques has it built? How many hospitals has it built? How many boxes of medicine has it given the Palestinian people? The answer is nothing… Let’s go back and examine the Iranian involvement in the Palestinian cause. The first involvement was the coup carried out by Hamas in the Gaza Strip against the PA and against the Palestinian legitimacy in 2007 (see note below -Ed.)… I think that Hamas is no longer interested in its popularity or anything else, what interests it is who is paying and who is funding.”
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, June 3, 2024] 
 
Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice.

The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate “responsible for putting into effect the declaration,” which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel’s War of Independence.

2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip - Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah won the 2005 Palestinian Authority Presidential election. However, Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with a majority of 74 out of 132 seats, to Fatah’s 45 seats. Fatah’s rule of the PA Presidency and Hamas’ rule of the PA government led to friction and eventually armed conflict between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas defeated Fatah militarily in the Gaza Strip in 2007, and since then Hamas rules in Gaza while the PA continues to rule the West Bank under Fatah.