US Officials: PA Violating Promises to End Terror Incitement

The Palestinian Authority is breaking its explicit promises to Washington to end the glorification of terrorism in its classrooms, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke with the Washington Free Beacon, even as the Ramallah government angles for a leading role in postwar Gaza.

The Free Beacon's investigation, based on newly obtained footage, found that Palestinian Authority-run schools in the West Bank are glorifying Hamas' Oct. 7 terror spree, using the Israeli death toll to teach third graders math lessons and hosting school-wide assemblies where children publicly commit to "cool the fire in our heart with the body parts and screams of soldiers." The outlet reported that the PA's schools have long been notorious for exposing schoolchildren to virulently anti-Israel as well as antisemitic ideology, but that antisemitic indoctrination in the West Bank has soared to new levels following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, which is now being routinely glorified by PA schools and worked into children's lessons, including into completely unrelated subjects such as math.

The timing could not be more consequential. Multiple U.S. officials confirmed to the Free Beacon that the PA is violating promises to end terror incitement, potentially disqualifying it from overseeing Gaza schools, where for years Hamas has taught children to hate Israel and Jews. The report noted that the celebration of Oct. 7 inside these primary and secondary schools is fueling fresh concerns at the State Department about the fledgling PA's fitness to govern in the Gaza Strip as it jockeys for a central role in President Donald Trump's reconstruction plan. That echoes findings reported previously by watchdog groups tracking PA educational content.

A State Department spokesman was blunt in comments to the Free Beacon, saying "the PA still has not and must end its incitement, glorification of violence, support for terrorism, and refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist in its educational curriculum and materials." The spokesman added that before the PA and the PLO can be "considered partners for peace" in post-war Gaza, they must "consistently end support for and repudiate terrorism, including the October 7 massacre, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as promised by" both organizations repeatedly for years.

The findings arrive as the Trump administration works to dismantle UNRWA and decide who will administer schools inside Gaza, a debate the Free Beacon says has become a flashpoint as Washington weighs the PA's suitability for a governing role under the president's postwar framework. It is far from the only broken promise on Mahmoud Abbas's ledger. A separate, non-public State Department report to Congress, also obtained by the Free Beacon, found that the PA has paid salaries to convicted terrorists Israel released from its prisons as part of its October 2025 ceasefire agreement with Hamas, and that the PA "incited and glorified violence, including on social media and media outlets," and "supported terrorism via educational materials and summer camps" that teach children jihadist ideologies.

That same reporting found the PA's so-called reform of its "pay-to-slay" welfare program was largely cosmetic. According to the Free Beacon, the PA shifted to a new system that it hoped to hide from international donors at a time when the Ramallah-based government is jockeying for a role in postwar Gaza, with Israeli intelligence assessing that the PA funneled $144 million to terrorists and their families in 2024 and committed at least $214 million through 2025. A congressional staffer working on Gaza issues told the outlet, "Abbas and the Palestinians are more committed to terrorism than fulfilling their promises to President Trump, even while the administration is asking them to help rebuild and govern Gaza."

The pattern is not new, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, which noted that "In July 2024, the Palestinian Authority signed a Letter of Intent with the European Union, committing to curriculum reform and the removal of inciting content to align with UNESCO standards of peace and tolerance. However, the materials published for the 2024-2025 school year demonstrate a complete absence of such reforms."

What comes next remains an open question inside the administration. With Trump's 20-point Gaza plan conditioning any expanded PA role on genuine reform, and the State Department publicly reiterating that incitement must end before the PA can be treated as a "partner for peace," officials cited by the Free Beacon signaled Washington is unlikely to hand Ramallah authority over Gaza's classrooms while children continue to be taught to celebrate the slaughter of Israelis. Congress and Israeli watchdog groups, including Palestinian Media Watch, are expected to keep pressing for accountability as the debate over Gaza's postwar governance intensifies.