Mahmoud Abbas/U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he remains committed to payments to families of prisoners convicted of terror against Israel or to loved ones of those who died while carrying out acts of terrorism.
His comments on what his critics call “pay-to-slay” payments came despite him issuing a decree that was supposed to end the scheme amid frictions over the issue with the United States.
It was not immediately clear whether the return of fiercely pro-Israel Donald J. Trump to the White House played a role in the decision.
In video footage seen by Worthy News, Abbas told the 12th session of his Fatah party’s Revolutionary Council, the Palestinian legislature in the West Bank, that the Palestinian Authority would continue the payments. “I told you once, and I stand by my word, that if we have only a single penny left, it will go to the prisoners and the martyrs,” he said.
“I will not allow [anyone] – and neither will you – to remove any commitment, interest, or penny that is given to them.”
The closing statement of the Revolutionary Council session, issued on February 22, affirmed the council’s commitment to “redouble the efforts to support and assist the prisoners in the occupation jails.”
It described them as “heroes of [the struggle for] freedom who are first in line for protection and sponsorship.”
It was not immediately clear what impact the statement would have on U.S. support for the Palestinians in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria.
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