Palestinian Authority pays February terror salaries as usual

(JNS) The Palestinian Authority on Thursday morning paid out February stipends from its “pay-for-slay” fund that rewards terrorists and their families for their attacks, the Palestinian Media Watch NGO reported, citing an official announcement by the P.A.’s postal bank.

“Palestine Post announces the beginning of payment of the monetary allowances tomorrow morning, Thursday, March 6, 2025, at the main post offices and through the ATMs,” Ramallah’s announcement read.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, while the bank “did not mention for whom the payments were in particular,” a Telegram channel for P.A. employees noted they were for “the martyrs, wounded and prisoners.”

The NGO also said it was “certain that these are terror salaries, because the P.A. postal service never made payments for the P.A. prior to April 2021. The postal service started making payments only after P.A. banks closed 35,000 terrorist bank accounts … the only payments the postal service makes are terror rewards, which continued this month.”

During a meeting of the ruling Fatah faction on Feb. 21, P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas said Ramallah would not deduct a single penny from the fund, despite a Feb. 10 statement interpreted by some as ending the practice.

“We again emphasize that we are proud of the sacrifices made by the martyrs, prisoners and wounded [terrorists],” the P.A. leader said at the gathering of the Revolutionary Council—Fatah’s second-highest body, which is chaired by Abbas—in Ramallah.

“I told you once and I stand by my word: Even if we have [only] one penny left, it is for the prisoners and the martyrs,” he continued, echoing previous remarks made during a 2018 address in the Palestinian city.

The P.A. “will not agree to reduce any obligation, any interest, or any penny given to them,” Abbas said. He concluded, “They must receive everything, as in the past, and they are more precious than all of us.”

In a statement issued following the annual gathering, the Revolutionary Council reiterated Ramallah’s “commitment to supporting the families of martyrs, prisoners and injured individuals, emphasizing that they are ‘heroes of freedom’ who deserve top priority in terms of protection and care,” according to a report by the P.A.’s official Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian faction was preparing to integrate terrorists released under the current hostage deal with Gaza-based Hamas into “the movement and national frameworks,” the announcement noted.

Prisoner payments are popular among the public in P.A.-controlled territories, with 91% supporting them, according to a 2017 survey.