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Here Is Concrete Proof the Palestinian Authority Is Continuing ‘Pay-for-Slay’ to Terrorists
European foreign ministers talk over lunch at the offices of the honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Geneva, Switzerland June 20, 2025, before meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS
Despite the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s ongoing claims that it has stopped rewarding imprisoned terrorists and the families of “Martyrs,” Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) can report that on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 10:00 AM, the PA post offices paid terrorists’ salaries and stipends to families of terrorist “Martyrs.”
Because the PA has told the donor countries that it stopped the Pay-for-Slay program, the PA made no official announcements and it delayed the payments so that everyone, even the terrorists’ families, would think that the program had ended.
On Saturday, however, the PA did pay the salaries.
This was one of the conversations between “Pay-for-Slay” recipients on social media following the payment:
Good evening, everyone, for those whose salaries are above 5,000 [shekels], how much did they send you today as a percentage of the payment?
[Answer 1]: “3,000.”
[Answer 2]: “50% of the salaries and [those making less than 2,000 received] the full amount. FYI, the salary is for June.”
The 50% payment is the same percentage the PA had paid all its employees earlier this month. Due to its financial crisis, since 2019, the PA has not paid full salaries to its employees.
This payment did not come as quickly or as easily for the terrorists’ families as it usually does. The long delay in paying the salaries likely occurred because many donor countries are waiting every month to see if the PA would stick to its promises and would stop rewarding terror.
Here is the timeline for a rollercoaster two weeks in the PA areas:
Sun Oct. 12
PA pays salaries to its employees. As stated, due to the financial crisis, the PA paid only 50% of the employees’ salaries, with a minimum of 2,000 shekels. The salaries are for July — two months late.
Mon Oct. 13
Families of “Martyrs” and terrorist prisoners expect and are waiting for salaries, which are usually paid in the post offices the following day, but there is no announcement.
Tues-Wed Oct. 14 -15
Families of terrorists start criticizing the PA.
Thurs Oct. 16
Families of “Martyrs” in Jordan and Syria receive their monthly payments.
The PA is silent about payments to terrorists’ families in the PA areas.
Mon Oct. 20
Small demonstrations are held against the PA in Ramallah by families of terrorists. One threatens violence: “Either we live with honor, or we die with honor.”
Tues Oct. 21
Demonstrations are held in all major cities against the PA.
Wed Oct. 22
Families of “Martyrs” in Lebanon receive their monthly payments.
The PA’s silence through official sources creates the impression that it stopped “Pay-for-Slay” and many Palestinians assume the program has ceased. One demands payment: “It’s either us or us” — meaning the PA has no choice but to pay them.
Thurs Oct. 23
Post office workers tell people unofficially that salaries will be paid on Saturday: “Salaries will be paid but there will be no official announcement.” Even though post offices are usually closed on Saturday, the PA will send special staff.
Fri October 24
11:23 AM: An announcement is issued quoting a private message by a Commission of Prisoners official, who would not make a public announcement himself: “Good morning. Tomorrow, Saturday, the prisoners’ salaries will be paid at the post office after 10:00 AM. Employees of the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority will also be on duty to facilitate the distribution of salaries. Have a blessed Friday.”
2:35 PM: A second report quoting an official in the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club is issued: “Salaries of families of Martyrs, injured, and prisoners will be paid tomorrow Saturday in the post offices.”
Sat Oct. 25
8:12 AM: First reports that salaries are paid. “The salaries of the prisoners, the wounded, and the Martyrs have arrived at the post office” [Qabatiya Around the Clock, Telegram channel, Oct. 25, 2025].
During the day, all salaries are paid as usual in all the post offices. Families report that they were paid 50% of full salary, just like the employees.
PMW comment
The remaining 50% is not canceled but is owed. The PA has pledged that when it has enough money, it will pay back all employees and terrorist prisoners. The monthly PA pay slips include a column showing the amount owed to the employee.
The Palestinian Authority could not publicly announce that it was paying the salaries, since it had already deceived donor countries by claiming on September 1, 2025, that the program had officially ended.
On September 25, 2025, the French Foreign Ministry announced that it believed the PA’s claim: “We welcome the reforms already underway by the PA, including: The abrogation of the prisoners’ payment system, that is now effective.” [emphasis added]
The PA’s silence may also have been an attempt to trigger anti-PA demonstrations so they could claim to the donors that they stopped the program.
The EU, on June 23, 2025, pledged €150 million to the PA to help it pay salaries.
€150 million have been allocated to support the Palestinian Authority in ensuring the delivery of key public services, including the payment of salaries of teachers, civil servants, and healthcare workers. The financial support is linked to the implementation of the reform agenda.
[EU Commission for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf]
Given the fungible nature of funding to the PA, when that pledge is paid by the EU, the PA will simply use it to pay the EU-acceptable salaries and will then have enough non-EU money left to pay terrorists their backpay.
If the EU wants to stop being a terror facilitator, Palestinian Media Watch urges the EU to suspend the transfer of all payments until the PA stops funding terror.
The PA pays terrorists more than $30 million/month based on its last published budget, which was before the Gaza War. Since then, the number of terrorist prisoners has more than doubled from 4,500 to 9,100, and there are thousands of new families of terrorist “Martyrs.”
The PA is waiting anxiously for that European money to cover its EU-acceptable expenses, so it has enough money to pay these terror rewards as soon as possible. The EU, which has staked its diplomatic reputation on the PA’s fraudulent claims of ending Pay-for-Slay, must now stand firm as long as the PA continues rewarding terrorists.
The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Extended by Three Weeks, Trump Says
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in southern Lebanon, March 24, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said in a post on Truth Social the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by three weeks.
Trump posted on social media that he and several top officials in his administration met with Israeli and Lebanese representatives in the Oval Office.
“The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said, referring to the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group which Israel was fighting before a temporary truce was reached earlier this month.
“The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” the president added. “I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. It was a Great Honor to be a participant at this very Historic Meeting!”
The US-mediated ceasefire, which was set to expire on Sunday, has yielded a significant reduction in violence, but attacks have continued in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops have seized a self-declared buffer zone.
Hezbollah says it has “the right to resist” occupying forces.
Wednesday marked Lebanon‘s deadliest day since the ceasefire took effect on April 16.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the terrorist group opened fire in support of Tehran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
Hezbollah said it carried out four operations in south Lebanon on Wednesday, saying they were a response to Israeli strikes.
Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel went on the offensive in response to Hezbollah’s March 2 attack, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli officials say the vast majority of those killed have been Hezbollah terrorists.
Israel is occupying a belt of the south that extends 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon, saying it aims to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which has fired hundreds of rockets during the war.
The Lebanese government has opened direct contacts with Israel despite strong objections from Hezbollah, which was established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had said Beirut’s envoy to Thursday’s talks in Washington, Lebanese ambassador to the US Nada Moawad, would seek a ceasefire extension and a halt to demolitions being carried out by Israel in villages in the south.
A Lebanese official said Beirut wants a ceasefire extension as a prerequisite for talks to expand beyond the ambassadorial level to the next phase, in which Lebanon would push for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of Lebanese detained in Israel, and a delineation of the land border.
Israel says its objectives in the talks with Lebanon include securing the dismantlement of Hezbollah and creating conditions for a peace deal. Israel has sought to make common cause with the Lebanese government over Hezbollah, which Beirut has been seeking to disarm peacefully for the past year.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend Thursday’s meeting along with Vice President JD Vance and the US ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon. Israel was represented by its ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter.
Rubio hosted the first meeting between Leiter and Moawad on April 14 – the highest-level contact between Lebanon and Israel in decades.
Washington has denied any link between its Lebanon mediation and diplomacy over the Iran war.
Hezbollah says the Lebanon ceasefire was the result of Iranian pressure rather than US mediation.
Aoun has cited goals including halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon and securing the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
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Germany’s Hesse Moves to Criminalize Denial of Israel’s Right to Exist Amid Rising Antisemitism
Anti-Israel protesters march in Germany, March 26, 2025. Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa via Reuters Connect
The German state of Hesse is preparing to introduce legislation that would criminalize denying Israel’s right to exist, as authorities move to confront a surge in anti-Israel demonstrations and a growing tide of antisemitic rhetoric and attacks that have intensified pressure on Jewish communities across the country.
On Thursday, Hesse Minister-President Boris Rhein and Justice Minister Christian Heinz of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) announced the new initiative in the western German state, saying they plan to bring the draft law before the Bundesrat, the legislative chamber known as the Federal Council where Germany’s 16 state governments are represented, next month.
The proposed legislation would close what officials describe as a legal loophole by explicitly criminalizing the denial of Israel’s right to exist, with penalties of up to five years in prison or a fine, aligning it with existing provisions that punish Holocaust denial.
“This legislation sends a very clear signal to Jewish people in Germany that we stand firmly by their side, that their protection is our responsibility, and that we are serious about it,” Rhein said at a press conference.
Under current German law, denying Israel’s right to exist is not explicitly a criminal offense, though it can in some cases be prosecuted as incitement to hatred, meaning the legal framework does not directly outlaw calls for Israel’s elimination.
Benjamin Graumann, chairman of the board of the Jewish community in Frankfurt, welcomed the initiative, saying it marks an important step toward stronger protection for Jewish life in Germany.
“Since Oct. 7, 2023, we have experienced outbreaks of antisemitism that have surpassed our worst nightmares. And we hope that this law will help to better protect Jewish life,” Graumann said, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel more than two years ago.
Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Germany has seen a shocking rise in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, in the wake of the Oct. 7 atrocities.
According to recently released figures, the number of antisemitic offenses in the country reached a record high in 2025, totaling 2,267 incidents, including violence, incitement, property damage, and propaganda offenses.
By comparison, officially recorded antisemitic crimes were significantly lower at 1,825 in 2024, 900 in 2023, and fewer than 500 in 2022, prior to the Oct. 7 atrocities.
Officials warn that the real number of antisemitic crimes is likely much higher, as many incidents go unreported.
In another attempt to address rising antisemitism, authorities in the eastern German state of Brandenburg last year introduced a new requirement that applicants for citizenship must affirm Israel’s right to exist, a policy that took effect on June 1 for those seeking naturalization and a German passport.
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Israel Taps Christian Envoy After Jailing Soldiers for Smashing Jesus Statue
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, left, and Geroge Deek, Israel’s newly appointed special envoy to the Christian world. Photo: Screenshot
Israel’s foreign minister said Thursday he had appointed former ambassador George Deek as a special envoy to the Christian world, amid a series of recent incidents involving Christian sites and leaders that have left ties strained.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the new role would focus on deepening Israel’s ties with Christian communities worldwide. Deek, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan and was the country’s first Christian ambassador, brings nearly two decades of diplomatic experience to the post. The appointment comes following fragile ceasefires with both Iran and its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah.
Minister of Foreign Affairs @gidonsaar Appointed @GeorgeDeek as Special Envoy to the Christian World
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar has appointed George Deek as Special Envoy to the Christian World. The appointment is intended to deepen Israel’s ties with Christian… pic.twitter.com/GvCQPucywO
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) April 23, 2026
It follows tensions in Jerusalem last month, when authorities initially prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to conduct Palm Sunday prayers, citing wartime restrictions and security concerns. The episode, which came days after an Iranian missile attack struck near the church, triggered anger in Italy and among Catholic leaders, eventually prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a reversal allowing the Latin Patriarch to hold services “as he wishes.”
Deek’s appointment also comes days after an Israeli soldier was filmed smashing a statue of Jesus in a village in southern Lebanon, footage that circulated widely and drew condemnation. The soldier and the individual who filmed the act were both sentenced to 30 days in prison and removed from combat duty, according to the military. The incident prompted a rare, swift response from across Israel’s political and military leadership, underscoring concerns about the potential diplomatic fallout.
Following the completion of an initial examination regarding a photograph published earlier today of an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol, it was determined that the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon.
The IDF views the incident with great… https://t.co/U6P3x8KWBb
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 19, 2026
The military said it deeply regretted the incident, stressing that its operations in Lebanon are directed at Hezbollah and other militant groups, not civilians. It moved quickly to install a replacement statue in the southern Lebanese village, called Debel, though that was later swapped out for a replica of the original, arranged by the Italian UNIFIL contingent after residents of Debel reportedly objected to receiving one from the IDF.
In this instance too, Netanyahu intervened, saying he was “stunned and saddened” to learn of the incident.
“I condemn the act in the strongest terms,” he wrote on X on Monday. “Military authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter and will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action against the offender.”
Christian activist Maj. (res.) Shadi Khalloul, a one-time Knesset candidate who founded the Israeli Christian Aramaic Association, called the act “reprehensible,” but emphasized that the response from Israeli authorities had been decisive.
“These soldiers represent themselves. They do not represent the spirit of the IDF or the spirit of the state,” he said.
Khalloul contrasted the response with what he described as a lack of accountability in parts of the Middle East where violence against churches and Christian communities is met with silence or denial.
“The steps taken were very good,” he said. “The state didn’t evade responsibility, as most countries do, but made a strong and unequivocal statement, one that not only educates but also shows the beautiful spirit of Israel.”
More than 150 Jewish leaders from across the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements condemned the IDF soldier’s act, calling it a “desecration of God’s name” and “an affront” to Christian communities and to Jewish-Christian relations at a particularly sensitive time.
Khalloul described Deek’s appointment as “worthy and respectable,” calling the envoy “capable and successful.”
The timing of the envoy appointment suggests a recognition within Israel’s leadership that incidents involving Christian institutions, even when isolated, can quickly take on international significance, he added, but cautioned that its impact would depend on how the role is defined and executed.
As a member of Israel’s Arab Christian minority from the mixed Jewish and Arab city of Jaffa, Deek has often spoken about his identity and the role of Christians in Israeli society, framing it as a bridge between different communities. His tenure in Azerbaijan, a Muslim-majority country with ties to Israel, was seen as a test case for such outreach.
Khalloul said he hoped Deek could help strengthen ties between Israel and Christian communities abroad while accurately reflecting the perspective of Israel’s Christian citizens, including their support for “preserving Israel as a strong Jewish and democratic state.”
“In the end, this is about the strength and security of the state for all of us,” he said.