PA President Abbas revokes laws on payments to families of Palestinian prisoners and those killed by Israel, shifting the program to a new foundation.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree on Monday revoking laws and regulations related to payments to the families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the families of those killed by the Israeli army.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Abbas issued a decree “revoking the provisions in laws and regulations regarding the financial allowances system for the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded in the Prisoners’ Law and the regulations issued by the Cabinet and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).”
The decree also transfers the cash assistance program, its database, and its financial local and international allocations from the Ministry of Social Development to the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment.
Meanwhile, Axios reported that a Palestinian official stated that President Abbas had decided to revoke the laws that had been enabling payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs, a move that had been communicated to the US administration in advance.
🚨🇵🇸💰Palestinian president revokes prisoner payments dubbed “pay for slay”https://t.co/vHbDb0sqzK
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) February 10, 2025
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the PA expressed its willingness to change the method of paying prisoners’ salaries based on their social and financial conditions.
The channel also noted that the PA informed the United States that it hopes Israel will stop the deductions from the tax revenues transferred to it.
The PA also requested the US administration to cancel the “Taylor Force Act,” named after an American killed in Tel Aviv in 2016 by a Palestinian man during his visit to Israel.
The US Congress passed the law in 2018, prohibiting the US government from providing direct economic aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it stops payments to the families of Palestinians involved in attacks.
This law prevents the US from providing any economic aid that could benefit the Palestinian Authority directly unless it ceases these payments.
#Hamas condemns PA decree on prisoner payments#Gaza #Palestine https://t.co/LGoNbOd15n
— Palestine Info Center (@palinfoen) February 10, 2025
Hamas Condemns
Meanwhile, Hamas condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision regarding the families of prisoners and martyrs in Israeli jails.
In a statement, Hamas said, “We condemn President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to cancel the financial allowances to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded.”
The movement considered the decision a betrayal of their national cause, “at a time when our people and resistance factions are working to preserve the rights of martyrs, liberate prisoners, and provide a dignified life for the released prisoners.”
Hamas affirmed that this action is “unpatriotic and represents a departure from one of the national principles,” urging the Palestinian Authority “to immediately reverse it and not succumb to the pressures of the Zionist occupation and the U.S. administration.”
The movement added, “Transforming this patriotic group, who have given the most valuable of what they possess for our people and their just cause, into social cases is shameful.”
Hamas pointed out that what is needed is to recognize the sacrifices of prisoners, the wounded, and the families of martyrs, the price they have paid with their lives and the years they spent in Israeli prisons, stressing the need to preserve their rights rather than abandon them in this critical moment in the history of the Palestinian cause.
As of the ceasefire in Gaza on January 19, 2025, there have been 14,500 Palestinians detained in the West Bank, including 455 women and 1,115 children, according to Palestinian data.
(PC, AJA)
