PA accused of failing Palestinians at a time of genocide A Palestinian grassroots body has warned that recent political and administrative decisions by the Palestinian Authority (PA) risk deepening internal divisions at a moment of “existential challenges” for Palestinians across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and the diaspora. In a statement on 23 December, the Palestinian National Popular Action Forum said it was monitoring an ongoing “war of genocide, destruction, and starvation” in Gaza, alongside an intensification of settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank. The group pointed in particular to Israel’s latest plans for 19 new settlements and the displacement of northern refugee camps as part of what it characterised as a broader strategy to dismantle the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa) and erase the refugee question. “In the face of these existential challenges, which require genuine national unity grounded in confronting the crimes of the occupation and its liquidation projects, the official leadership, under Israeli and external pressure, continues to issue decrees, measures, and decisions that starkly contradict the popular will, lack any national or popular consensus and further deepen divisions within the Palestinian arena,” the forum said. The group added that it was concerned about the PA's suspension of payments to the families of "martyrs, wounded Palestinians and prisoners" earlier this year. These payments, the forum said, are not discretionary welfare measures but a “national, moral, and popular duty” rooted in Palestinian law and collective obligation. Read more: PA accused of failing Palestinians at a time of genocide Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is pictured in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on 22 December 2025 (Nasser Nasser/Pool via Reuters)