PMW successfully brings closure of terrorist murderers' bank accounts
“[PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Spokesman Hassan Abd Rabbo confirmed to the [independent Palestinian] paper Al-Hadath that complaints have come in from the families of prisoners and released prisoners against two banks that are active in the Palestinian territories, because they have closed the prisoners’ bank accounts.
He added that today, Wednesday [May 6, 2020], a meeting will be held on the matter between the [PA] Monetary Authority and the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs.
Documents obtained by Al-Hadath revealed that Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Director of Legal Strategies and former Head of Israeli Military Prosecution Itamar Marcus (sic., Maurice Hirsch; Itamar Marcus is the director of PMW) warned the Palestinian banks of the consequences that there will be for continuing to maintain the prisoners’ accounts, through which the PA pays them salaries (refers to the application of much of Israel's Anti-Terror Law to the West Bank, including rendering banks liable to punishment for facilitating PA terror salaries -Ed.)…
It should be noted that PMW, which Marcus directs, issued a special report at the end of 2019 regarding the amount of money that the PA pays the prisoners, which according to the report had reached $517 million. It called on the occupation government and the American administration to exert more pressure on the PA so that it would stop paying the prisoners’ salaries.”
Israeli army legislation which applies parts of Israel's 2016 Anti-Terror Law to the West Bank (taking effect on May 9, 2020). The law prohibits numerous terror related offenses, including terror funding/rewarding and holds heads of terror organizations responsible for murder committed by members of the organization. The law criminalizes the provision of funds for or the payment of rewards for the commission of terrorist offenses, such as the salaries the PA pays to terrorist prisoners and released prisoners. The provision also applies to any person or body - such as a bank - that facilitates such funding or rewarding of terror offenses. Based on this last provision, PMW sent letters in April 2020 to the heads of banks in the PA areas warning them that they must freeze the accounts of terrorists and their proxies and transfer them to the Israeli army or face legal consequences.