Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party is preparing to integrate terrorists released under the hostage deal with Hamas into “the movement and national frameworks,” it announced on Saturday.
The Revolutionary Council—Fatah’s second-highest body, chaired by Abbas—following its annual summit in Ramallah reiterated the party’s “commitment to supporting the families of martyrs, prisoners and injured individuals, emphasizing that they are ‘heroes of freedom’ who deserve top priority in terms of protection and care,” the P.A.’s official Wafa news agency reported.
According to Wafa, the Revolutionary Council also vowed to “double its efforts” to support prisoners. “Mercy for the martyrs, freedom for the prisoners and healing for the wounded,” the statement concluded.
Although international media have interpreted a Feb. 10 statement by Abbas as ending the P.A.’s pay-for-slay program, or “Martyrs’ Fund,” in which terrorists are rewarded financial compensation for murdering Jews, the announcement said Ramallah was transferring its payment allocation system from a ministry to an “independent” foundation.
Ramallah has made similar announcements in the past when facing Western scrutiny. In 2014, when the pay-for-slay program first made news, the P.A. felt its funding sources threatened. It declared that it was closing the Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs and no longer paying stipends.
Abbas told the Revolutionary Council over the weekend, “We reiterate we are proud of the sacrifices of the martyrs, prisoners and wounded.”
The Fatah chairman continued, “We have established a comprehensive social protection and care system and amended some laws to secure the needs of all affected categories of Palestinian families who need empowerment and assistance. This system will work to preserve their dignity and material needs, and we hope that everyone will trust us.”
Prisoner payments are extremely popular among the public in P.A.-controlled areas, with 91% supporting them, according to a 2017 poll.
The meeting in Ramallah was attended by arch-terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, who was released as part of the hostage deal on Jan. 30.
Zubeidi, a former Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander in the Samaria city of Jenin, was released back to the area as he was never convicted of murder, but rather of other terrorism-related offenses.
According to Wafa, a reception was held in the Ramallah suburb of Al-Bireh for Zubeidi and fellow released terror operatives on Friday night.
“We went to prison so that the people could gain their freedom, and it is time, after all the great sacrifices they have made, for them to be able to do so by establishing their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” the convicted Palestinian terrorist was quoted as saying.