The Palestinian Authority (PA) has announced ending a programme to provide payments to families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel, a longstanding demand by the United States and Israel.
President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on Monday “revoking” legal articles relating to the allowances initiative.
The order presented the move as a restructure, moving the fund from the Ministry of Social Development to the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment.
It said the families would be eligible for regular welfare payments like other Palestinians “in accordance with the standards of justice and universality”, but it is not clear whether the allowances would stop immediately or continue under a new form.
It is not uncommon for countries to provide special payments to people killed in violent conflict. But the US has long decried the Palestinian so-called Martyrs’ Fund, arguing that it rewards attacks against Israel and dubbing it “pay for slay”.
Hamas condemned Abbas’s “unpatriotic” move on Monday, calling on him to reverse it immediately. “We need to appreciate the sacrifices of the prisoners and wounded and martyrs’ families instead of abandoning them,” the group said in a statement.
Israel has previously withheld and deducted Palestinian tax revenues over the payments.
Abbas’s decree comes amid a push by the PA to present itself as an internationally credible option to take over Gaza.
PA security forces have also been cracking down on fighters committed to armed struggle against Israel in the occupied West Bank.
In December, the PA launched a weeks-long security campaign in the Jenin refugee camp that it said aimed to restore law and order, leading to accusations of laying siege to the area.
The PA’s campaign was followed by Israel’s “Iron Wall” operation in Jenin, part of its broader offensive across the West Bank, which intensified after the Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect last month.
The Israeli incursion has killed dozens – including women and children – and dealt a heavy blow to the local economy, costing at least $8.4m in damage per day, according to the Jenin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
On Monday, Palestinians accused the Israeli military of destroying the Nur Shams refugee camp in the north of the territory. Ahmed al-Izza, an elderly resident, said soldiers stormed people’s homes and forced them to leave.
“Destruction is everywhere in the camp,” he said. “Residents who remained are waiting for their turn. The camp is surrounded and Israeli forces are raiding all houses.”
The US provides Israel – which has been accused by leading rights groups of imposing apartheid against Palestinians – with billions of dollars in military aid annually.
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