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As New Unity Deal Is Signed, PA Recognition Makes 899 Gazans Eligible for Pay-for-Slay
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, July 26, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Palestinian Presidents’ Office
According to new data, 899 terrorists who were captured in the Gaza war have been recognized by the Palestinian Authority as prisoners (asra in Arabic = POWs), and 9,750 terrorists are now recognized by the PA as prisoners from PA-controlled areas [PA Commission of Detainees Affairs’ Facebook page, July 21, 2024].
This recognition is significant, because it means the PA considers them eligible for monthly terror reward salaries.
“The occupation’s [Israeli] Prison Service announced that 899 are imprisoned under the definition of ‘illegal fighter.’”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, June 16, 2024]
“Illegal fighter” is a term that the Israeli Prison Service uses to classify Gazan terrorists.
Salary calculations — new prisoners
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) calculates that once the processing of the new prisoners is complete, the PA will be paying a minimum of 59,560,000 shekels (about $16.4 million) a month in salaries to terrorist prisoners, up from 52,000,000 shekels (about $14.3 million) a month prior to October 7.
PMW last reported on January 10, 2024, that the PA had already recognized 661 terrorist prisoners from Gaza, and a total of 8,800 prisoners.
The WAFA report shows that among the thousands of terrorists arrested from Hamas-controlled Gaza, 238 have been recognized by the PA as prisoners since January, and the number of individuals that the PA recognizes as prisoners overall has increased by 950 since January.
The PA rewards terrorist prisoners with a salary of 1,400 shekels a month for the first three years in prison, and the salary gradually rises to 12,000 after 30 years.
The PA pays an additional 300 shekels a month for each wife, 50 shekels a month per child, 300 shekels a month extra for residents of Jerusalem, and 500 shekels a month extra for Israeli Arabs.
The number of imprisoned terrorists was around 4,300 prior to October 7. The additional monthly terror rewards come to at least an additional 7,630,000 shekels/month (over $2 million) that the PA will pay to terrorist prisoners under PA law (5,450 terrorists multiplied by 1,400 shekels).
In reality, the total PA payment for terrorist prisoners is far higher, because these sums only represent how much single prisoners with no children receive in their first year of incarceration. It does not include an accounting for how the salaries increase over time, or the additions for wives, children, and Israeli residency.
Payments to new Martyrs
The PA also counts 578 new Martyrs since October 7 in the areas under its control, and it recognizes the reports by the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza, which have listed 38,983 Martyrs since October 7 (in numbers that are totally unverified).
The families of the 578 new Martyrs from PA-controlled territory plus those of the 38,983 new Martyrs from Hamas-controlled territory are also all eligible to receive a one-time immediate grant of 6,000 shekels and a monthly allowance for life of 1,400 shekels. This makes for a one-time reward that would total 237,366,000 shekels (about $65.4 million) and a minimum of 54,576,200 shekels (about $15 million) per month, once the new Martyrs are processed. After the previous Gaza war with Hamas, it took the PA a number of years to process and start payments.
Even if the PA is unable to get payment to the families of the Gaza Martyrs right away, it will be registered as a debt, and PMW has shown that the PA does its best to pay the terror salaries as soon as possible.
In February 2024, PMW reported that the PA was so anxious to start rewarding newly arrested terrorists that it announced that it was bypassing its own regulations and processing requirements in order to be able to pay them immediately.
Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director, and Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to PMW. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post As New Unity Deal Is Signed, PA Recognition Makes 899 Gazans Eligible for Pay-for-Slay first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital
Illustrative. Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
i24 News – Israeli forces concluded an operation to dismantle a Hamas terror headquarters in Gaza’s Kamel Adwan Hospital. Some 240 terror suspects were arrested, including the hospital’s director and some 15 terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre.
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IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem
Illustrative. Rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel, in Gaza May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammd Salem
JNS.org – The Israeli Air Force on Saturday downed two rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip towards Jerusalem.
The attack triggered air-raid sirens in the capital, the Western Negev and the the Judean Foothills (the Shfela).
There were no reports of injuries.
Following the rocket fire, the military again called on Palestinians to evacuate parts of the northern Strip.
“Urgent warning to all those who have not yet evacuated the area specified in the map, and the Beit Hanun area [in the Strip’s northeast] in particular,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, posted to X.
“This area has been warned many times in the past. The IDF is operating in this area with force. You must evacuate the area immediately and move south towards Salah El Din Road. Moving via another road exposes you to danger,” he added.
On Dec. 11, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired four rockets at southern Israel, setting off sirens in several towns and villages along the border. The Israel Defense Forces intercepted two of the rockets, with the others impacting in open areas, causing no damage.
On Dec. 3, the IAF intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza.
The IDF’s year-plus-long offensive against Hamas in the enclave has greatly curbed rocket fire from the Strip, although Palestinian terrorists still intermittently target the Jewish state.
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Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The post Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash first appeared on Algemeiner.com.