Palestinian Authority recognition makes 899 Gazans eligible for Pay-for-Slay
9,750 terrorist prisoners are now recognized by the PA as eligible for monthly terror rewards, up from 4,300 prior to October 7
This means the PA is committing to pay nearly NIS 60 million a month to terrorist prisoners
The PA has recognized Hamas’ Martyr count, and a total of 38,983 new Martyrs' families are currently eligible for terror rewards
This means nearly 55 million shekels in additional monthly payments to the families of Martyrs
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, 2023]. 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 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 a salary of 1,400 shekels a month for the first 3 years in prison, and the salary gradually rises to 12,000 after 30 years. The PA pays an additional 300 shekels/month for each wife, 50 shekels/month per child, 300 shekels/month extra for residents of Jerusalem, and 500 shekels/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 X 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.
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 payment.
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.