The Palestinian Constitution bans Hamas and PIJ militias - but allows Fatah and PFLP terrorism ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

The Palestinian Constitution bans Hamas and PIJ militias - but allows Fatah and PFLP terrorism

Part 3 of my analysis of the 2026 Draft Palestinian Constitution

Hamas senior official Bassem Naim denounced the new Palestinian draft constitution as "a violation of the noble rights of our Palestinian people" and "a failed attempt by the PA to save itself from the developments of history."

Why does Hamas object to a constitution that is designed to destroy Israel? Because its structure bans Hamas from having weapons - but allows terror groups under the PLO umbrella to continue to murder Jews.

And to Hamas, that's not fair.

Article 154 of the constitution states: "It is prohibited to establish any military or security formations or organizations or military or semi-military groups outside the scope of the security forces, whether they are individuals or units."

At first glance, this sounds comprehensive and reasonable - the state must have a monopoly on arms. This is pretty standard. (Let's ignore that Abbas promised European leaders that his state would be demilitarized altogether.)

But Article 154 is a state law. It binds entities operating within the state framework. And the constitution allows an entire tier of authority that operates above the state: the PLO.

Article 11 declares that the establishment of the state "does not diminish" the PLO's status (until Israel is destroyed via "right of return") The preamble specifies that the PLO "continues to perform its national responsibilities according to the National Covenant." The PLO operates under its own charter, not under the constitution. The state has no authority over it.

This distinction determines which armed groups the constitution can touch — and which it can't.

The PLO is an umbrella organization made up of constituent factions. The major ones with active armed wings include:

Fatah (Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades) — Abbas's own movement
PFLP (Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades) — a Marxist-Leninist organization designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU, Canada, Japan, and others
DFLP (National Resistance Brigades)
Various smaller factions

But these groups are not PLO members:

Hamas (Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Al-Quds Brigades)

The constitutional logic is straightforward. Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades can be characterized as a PLO faction activity. The PLO operates above the state, under its own charter. Article 154 doesn't reach it. The same applies to the PFLP — an organization that has carried out airplane hijackings, assassinations, and suicide bombings, and whose armed wing continues to operate. Under this constitution, its militia enjoys the same PLO shelter as Fatah's. The DFLP is not a designated terror organization under the US and EU, but it participated in the October 7 attacks. But - it's legal.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have no such shelter. They are not PLO members. Their only legal existence is within the state framework, where Article 154 explicitly prohibits their armed wings. Hamas is a political party, Islamic Jihad is not. They can be disarmed, disbanded, and prosecuted — constitutionally.

Abbas told Macron he would ensure that Hamas disarms. The constitution delivers on that promise — and only that promise. It provides a constitutional basis for suppressing Hamas and Islamic Jihad while preserving the armed capacity of Fatah and every other PLO faction through a loophole the size of the PLO charter.

This isn't an accident or an oversight. It allows the Palestinian leaders to say that the constitution "prohibits militias." It provides a legal framework for disarming Hamas, which is what the US, France, and Israel all demanded. It checks those boxes.

But it also preserves Fatah's and the PFLP's armed capability entirely. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades have carried out shootings, bombings, and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians — yet they operate under PLO authority, not state authority, and are constitutionally untouchable.

And it ensures that if Hamas ever tried to join the PLO — as various reconciliation talks have proposed over the years — its armed wing would suddenly acquire the same constitutional protection as Fatah's. The door isn't closed; it's a mechanism for future leverage.

The irony is that Hamas's objection — that the constitution was "written under French supervision" to meet the demands of outsiders — accidentally highlights the real problem. The constitution was written to appear to meet French demands while actually doing the opposite. France wanted demilitarization; it got selective disarmament of Abbas's rivals. France wanted democratic reform; it got a democratic mirage under a PLO dictatorship. France wanted an end to pay-for-slay; it got pay-for-slay as an unamendable constitutional right.

The PFLP hijacked an Air France plane and separated Jews from non-Jews at Entebbe in 1976. A PFLP operativ, Carlos the Jackal, bombed Paris in the 1980s. . The PFLP participated in the October 7 massacre that killed 42 French citizens. And France helped draft a constitution that gives the PFLP's armed wing a constitutional safe harbor.

Someone should ask Macron how he feels about that.