Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas ordered that the family of a terrorist who murdered two Israeli civilians be given over $42,000 as well as new housing, Kan News reported.
Muhannad Halabi stabbed Rabbi Nehemiah Lavi and Aharon Banita to death in a terrorist attack in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 3, 2015. Halabi also wounded Banita’s wife, Adele, and their two-year-old son.
Halabi was shot dead by security forces.
On Sunday, Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam met with Halabi's family and agreed to pay them 30,000 Jordanian dinars, the equivalent of over $42,000. The funds are reportedly to help them purchase a new house after their previous house was demolished by the IDF in response to the deadly attack.
Ghannam also told the family that Abbas had instructed the PA security forces to assist them in finding new housing arrangements.
The PA lavished praise on Halabi after he committed the murders, as was documented by Palestinian Media Watch. Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen said at a rally in support of Halabi's actions that “it is the right of our young men to cause Israeli women to cry like our women are crying, even though our women make sounds of joy after their sons’ and husbands’ deaths as Martyrs."
PLO Central Committee Member and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) member Omar Shehadeh stated that Halabi “represents an example and role model for generations of young."
PLO Executive Committee member and Deputy Secretary-General of the DFLP Qais Abd Al-Karim called Halabi a "hero."
The PA has faced criticism for its policy of paying salaries to terrorists who committed attacks against Israelis and making payments to the families of terrorists. The policy has been dubbed 'pay-to-slay' by its detractors for the incentives it provides to commit acts of terrorism and violence.