Hundreds of Hamas terrorists who were formerly imprisoned by Israel claim they have not received their monthly payments from the Palestinian Authority.
Abdelrahman Shadid, who heads a Hamas-affiliated prisoner advocacy organization in Gaza, said 277 former terrorist prisoners did not receive their regularly scheduled monthly stipends from the PA, The Associated Press reported.
“The prisoners went to the banks today and found no salaries in their accounts,” said Shadid. “We are waiting to hear from the bank officially tomorrow to see if this is a salary stop.”
The report comes after the Trump administration’s recent request that the PA cease its payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families, though senior PA official Nabil Shaath had called the American request “insane.”
The PA did not comment on the reported freeze in its payments. The former prisoners affected by the development were freed as part of the 2011 deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who spent more than five years in Hamas captivity.
In addition to the former prisoners, 47 Hamas activists in Gaza were affected by the reported freeze in payments, with Hamas member Ayman Daraghmeh saying Monday the funds were not received due to “orders from above,” Israel Hayom reported. {eoa}
This article was originally published at JNS.org. Used with permission.
