PA anxious to pay salaries to thousands of new terrorist prisoners
Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadura Fares: “The occupation (i.e., Israel) is preventing the Red Cross from visiting the prisoners, and as a result, the Red Cross cannot provide the document given to new or veteran prisoners showing that they are still in prison. This is the document that we established in our [prisoners’ law] regulations as a main document [to confirm salary eligibility], albeit not the only one. Currently, there are thousands of new prisoners (i.e., terrorists arrested since the start of the 2023 Gaza war) and they cannot continue to be dependent on Israel, since Israel is preventing the Red Cross, we have implemented an emergency measure to put the matter in order, and a decision was made that there is no need for the document from the Red Cross to open a file [for a prisoner’s salary] starting from Jan. 1, 2024, until April 30.”
[Official PA TV, Jan. 31, 2024]
Qadura Fares also serves as Chairman of the Prisoners’ Club and is a former PA minister without portfolio and former member of PA Parliament.
Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - At least 1,200 Israelis, including over 1,000 civilians, were murdered and over 4,800 wounded, in addition to approximately 244 who were abducted into the Gaza Strip (including 110 later released or liberated and at least 26 later killed), in a Hamas terror war that began when approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns and attacking a music festival on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. During the massacre the terrorists tortured, raped, shot, beheaded, and burned their victims alive, murdering entire families and leaving at least 21 children without parents. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers. In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north. Occasional rocket launches and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout the war. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal began on Nov. 24, 2023, in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas. The deal was subsequently extended with additional releases, until Hamas violated the agreement and resumed attacking on Dec. 1, 2023.