The Palestinian Authority (PA) has quietly resumed payments to families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and to relatives of terrorists killed in terror attacks, according to a report published Monday by the research institute Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).
PMW said the payments, made Saturday, contradict the PA’s repeated commitments to donor countries and violate the framework set by U.S. President Donald Trump that conditions international aid on halting such stipends.
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Palestinian terrorists released during the latest hostage deal
(Photo: Reuters/Ramadan Abed)
The institute based its findings partly on social media posts by recipients. In one exchange, a user asked, “Good evening everyone, for those with salaries above 5,000 shekels, how much did you receive today?” One woman replied, “3,000,” while another explained, “50% of salaries were paid, and those earning less than 2,000 got the full amount. It’s for June.”
PMW said the partial payments reflected the same 50% salary rate the PA paid its civil servants earlier this month amid a prolonged financial crisis. Donor nations, including members of the European Union, have pressured the PA to end its long-standing “martyr and prisoner payments,” which critics say incentivize terrorism.
A timeline of quiet unrest
PMW documented a two-week chain of events leading up to the payments:
Oct. 12: The PA pays 50% of July salaries to government workers earning more than 2,000 shekels.
Oct. 13–14: Families of prisoners and slain attackers wait at post offices for their payments but receive no notice.
Oct. 15–16: Families begin publicly criticizing the PA online.
Oct. 16: Families of “martyrs” in Jordan and Syria receive their monthly stipends, while the PA remains silent about payments in the West Bank.
Oct. 20–21: Small protests erupt in Ramallah and later spread to major West Bank cities. One protester declared, “We’ll live with dignity—or die with dignity.”
Oct. 22: Families in Lebanon also report receiving stipends. Silence in the West Bank fuels speculation that payments there were canceled.
Oct. 23: Postal workers quietly inform families that payments will be made Saturday, though no official statement is released.
Oct. 25: The first reports confirm that post offices opened specially on Saturday to distribute the salaries. Families received 50% of their usual amounts, matching other PA workers.
PMW noted that the unpaid half is listed as “debt” on the PA’s official payslips, with the government pledging to pay the remainder later.
Donor pressure and quiet defiance
The European Union recently approved a €150 million aid package to help the PA pay salaries for teachers, health workers, and other civil servants. Because of its September pledge to halt the “terror payments,” the PA avoided publicly announcing the transfers to prisoners’ families.
In late September, France’s Foreign Ministry said it “welcomes the reforms already undertaken by the Palestinian Authority, including the end of the prisoner payment system.”
Before the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, the PA’s own budget documents showed more than $30 million per month going to families of prisoners and “martyrs.” Since then, the number of Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons has doubled—from 4,500 to over 9,000—creating thousands of new beneficiaries.
Israeli response
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, speaking in Budapest alongside Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, condemned the resumed payments.
“The Palestinian Authority continues to pay salaries to terrorists and their families for murdering Jews and Israelis, as required by its 2004 law,” Sa’ar said. “It never stopped the payments—only changed the method. Now the money comes through post offices.
Instead of demanding accountability, the European Union is whitewashing the PA and effectively encouraging terror. President Trump’s 20-point plan made it clear: there can be no legitimacy for the PA without genuine reforms. I urge Europe’s responsible leaders to follow Hungary’s moral example and hold the PA accountable.”