(JNS) The Palestinian Authority will pay nearly $3 million to the families of slain Hamas terrorists who slaughtered civilians in Gaza border communities on Oct. 7, Palestinian Media Watch reports.
The bodies of 1,500 Hamas terrorists were found after the massacre in which more than 1,400 Israelis were killed and more than 4,100 others were wounded. At least 199 captives were taken back to Gaza.
Under P.A. law, every Palestinian terrorist who is killed attacking Israelis is classified as a “martyr” and the family is rewarded with a 6,000 shekel ($1,511) grant and a monthly stipend of 1,400 shekel ($353) for life.
The Israel-based NGO and media watchdog estimates that each family will receive 7,400 shekels for the first month—11.1 million shekels ($2,789,430) in total to the families of the Hamas terrorists killed in the attack that began on Oct. 7.
“The P.A. sends every month nearly half of the P.A. budget to Gaza. They call it ‘southern districts,’” PMW director Itamar Marcus said.
“We are used to seeing the P.A. and Gaza as two different entities, but the P.A. funds all the civil servants in Gaza,” Marcus stressed.
“We know that in the past, when Israel carried out operations in Gaza, and many Hamas terrorists were killed, there were suddenly many ‘martyrs,’ but they didn’t get the payments right away so there were a lot of complaints from Hamas [security] prisoners,” Marcus said.
“Eventually, they were paid retroactively. According to P.A. law the families of the “martyrs” should start receiving money immediately. Given the situation, we don’t know when it will be done but as in the past, the money will be paid as the P.A. gives this highest priority, he explained.
In addition, the 50 Hamas terrorists captured by Israel who participated in the massacre will be paid at least 70,000 shekels ($17,590) in total this month. As part of the P.A.’s “pay-for-slay” program, terrorists in Israeli prisons receive monthly stipends starting at 1,400 shekels per month that eventually increase to 12,000 shekels per month.
Terrorist prisoners who are married with children receive even higher salaries from the P.A.
In total, the P.A. will pay at least 11.17 million shekels ($2,807,021) in payments to the families of dead Hamas terrorists and to imprisoned Hamas terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.
Palestinian Media Watch said that this was a conservative estimate, because as the war continues Israeli forces will kill and capture more Hamas terrorists.
“The Palestinian Authority should be sending a big thank-you to the E.U. countries and Norway, currently the largest funders of the P.A., because the P.A. could not possibly make these terror payments without them,” Palestinian Media Watch stated.
“These donor countries like to pretend that it’s not their money rewarding terrorists, but everyone knows that the P.A. could not reward terrorists without this generous foreign funding. When payments to teachers, police and street cleaners are taken care of by international donors, the P.A. has the hundreds of millions available it needs to pay for terror,” the NGO said.
