The Palestinian Authority will continue to pay allowances to the families of Palestinian prisoners and those killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday, according to JPost’s Khaled Abu Toameh.
Speaking on “Nakba Day”, on which Palestinian Arabs mark what they view as the “catastrophe” of the establishment of the State of Israel, Abbas said, “The Palestinian people and their leadership will not rest until all prisoners enjoy freedom.”
He added that he would remain committed “to the rights of the families of the martyrs and prisoners.”
“The great Palestinian people cannot be defeated because they have a just issue that cannot be obliterated by false narratives,” said the PA chairman. He called on Israel’s leaders “to get out of the cycle of denial of the other because it will not bring security and stability to anyone.”
PA officials have remained defiant about the issue of payments to terrorists and have made clear that the PA will never cease paying terrorists' salaries.
Abbas has in the past called the PA's continued payments to terrorists a "red line" that would not be halted under any circumstances.
The Israeli Cabinet last year decided to freeze the funds transferred by the Palestinian Authority to terrorists and their families, saying it would deduct the amount the PA pays terrorists and their families from the taxes and tariffs collected for the PA by Israel.
The PA was outraged by the decision, describing it as "racist behavior" and "a policy of robbery of some of the state's funds estimated at millions of shekels."