PLO official claims Israel is withholding Palestinian money, "murdering" Palestinian prisoners and utilizing Covid to "attack" Palestinians
Headline: “Khraishi calls on the international community to recognize Palestine and boycott the settlements”
“Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine at the UN and at the international organizations in Switzerland Ibrahim Khraishi… demanded that the states that are still avoiding talking about the human rights situation in Palestine and the rest of the occupied Arab territories reexamine their position. He added that the occupying power (i.e., Israel) is exploiting the fact that the international community is busy with the fight against the dangers and consequences of the Coronavirus epidemic; is escalating its attacks against citizens; …and also is not transferring the Palestinian money on the pretext that we are helping the families of the Martyrs, the prisoners, and the wounded (refers to the PA’s refusal to accept tax money following Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” Law to deduct PA terror salaries; see note below –Ed.).
He said that the occupying power is continuing to carry out waves of arrests against the Palestinian people, and that since 1967 more than 1 million Palestinians have been arrested, of whom 224 have died as Martyrs in the occupation’s prison following torture, medical neglect, premeditated murder, and direct gunfire (sic., Israel treats its prisoners in accordance with international law).”
Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA. The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018. During the parliamentary vote, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018] In accordance with the law, as of September 2021 Israel’s Security Cabinet had ordered the freeze of 1.857 billion shekels ($580.15 million) - the sum equivalent to the PA payments to terrorists in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Libel on medical abuse of Palestinian prisoners - The PA claims that Israel abuses Palestinian prisoners through medical neglect, medical experiments, and by intentionally infecting them with diseases. However, the International Red Cross regularly visits these prisoners and has not documented or accused Israel of any of these claims. Likewise, lists of demands occasionally issued by the prisoners during hunger strikes—such as during one in 2011—include no demands relating to these claims. PMW has documented prisoners talking about how they "lack nothing" in the prisons and that "the worst thing about Israeli prison" is riding in a prison vehicle that has no padding on the seat. When PMW contacted the Israeli Ministry of Health in 2007 regarding PA claims of medical experiments on prisoners, the ministry responded: "Clinical testing on prisoners in prison was never approved, never performed, and is most certainly not taking place at present."