Palestinian banks pay terrorists' salaries for 3 months upfront, before Israeli sanctions take effect

Headline: “Paying the prisoners and Martyrs’ salaries for three months through the banks, before the Israeli ban takes effect”

“Today, Tuesday [Dec. 29, 2020], the Palestinian banks began to pay allowances for three months to the families of the Martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners through the ATMs.

The PA decided to pay the prisoners’ allowances for three months, of which two months are in advance for next year [2021], in order to avoid the Israeli decision that forbids the Palestinian banks from paying the prisoners’ allowances starting from the beginning of 2021 (refers to the application of much of Israel's Anti-Terror Law to the West Bank, including rendering banks liable to punishment for facilitating PA terror salaries -Ed.).”

Israeli army legislation which applies parts of Israel's 2016 Anti-Terror Law to the West Bank (taking effect on May 9, 2020). The law prohibits numerous terror related offenses, including terror funding/rewarding and holds heads of terror organizations responsible for murder committed by members of the organization. The law criminalizes the provision of funds for or the payment of rewards for the commission of terrorist offenses, such as the salaries the PA pays to terrorist prisoners and released prisoners. The provision also applies to any person or body - such as a bank - that facilitates such funding or rewarding of terror offenses. Based on this last provision, PMW sent letters in April 2020 to the heads of banks in the PA areas warning them that they must freeze the accounts of terrorists and their proxies and transfer them to the Israeli army or face legal consequences.