A PLO leader today declared in a television interview that the murders of Israeli parents Naama and Eitam Henkin in a shooting attack a week ago fulfilled a Palestinian “national duty,” reports Palestinian Media Watch.

The Henkins were murdered on the road between Itamar and Elon Moreh in front of their four children, aged 9, 7, 4, and 4 months. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of Fatah originally took credit, but five Hamas terrorists who were arrested confessed to the murders.

On October 6, the official Palestinian Authority TV program The State of Politics hosted PLO Executive Committee member Mahmoud Ismail. When the host asked if the killers were from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades [Fatah’s military wing] or from Hamas, Ismail answered,

“There is no need to return to the argument and dispute about who carried out the operation... There is no need to announce it and boast of having done it. One fulfills his national duty voluntarily, as best as one can.”

Palestinian Media Watch notes that this is a commonly expressed attitude among PA and Fatah officials. As Israel continues to experience daily terror all over the country, the Palestinian Authority and Fatah continue to express support for what they are quick to call a “popular uprising.”

In Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the Palestinian daily newspaper, for example, Fatah Central Committee Member Jamal Muhaisen was described yesterday as stressing that "it is important that the popular uprising increases, in order to deal with the occupation’s crimes and the settlers. He clarified that the settlers’ presence is illegal, and therefore every measure taken against them is legitimate and legal.”