Palestinian Authority announces end to payments for families of ‘prisoners, martyrs’

The Palestinian Authority announced on Monday it would end its system of payments to the families of those killed by Israel or held in Israeli prisons, including for attacks on Israelis, responding to a long-standing request from Washington.

“President Mahmud Abbas… issued a decree to cancel articles in the laws and regulations related to the system of paying financial allocations to the families of prisoners, martyrs and the wounded,” the official WAFA news agency reported. Israel has long denounced the system and the current government has used it as a reason to freeze funds for the PA.