Despite recently signing a decree ordering an end to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) policy of paying stipends to terrorists who murdered Israelis - also known as “pay-to-slay”, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas later clarified he has no intentions of ending the policy.
Abbas confirmed in a February 20, 2025, speech at the Fatah Revolutionary Council that the PA would continue its payments to terrorists even if it only had a single penny left.
The PA chairman stated that the prisoners and “martyrs” are the "most dear" to Palestinian Arabs, and he would not allow payments to them to be reduced.
The comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which noted that in the version of this speech aired on Palestinian TV and posted on Abbas' Facebook page, any reference to the continued payments to prisoners and “martyr” families was redacted.
“We should all work together to bolster our home front, to keep the PLO as the sole legitimate representative, and to foil any meetings, conferences, or attempts to create alternative or parallel frameworks. We must protect the Palestinian cause, and strengthen the steadfastness of our people, at home and abroad. We must impose sanctions on anyone who participates in these meetings, without obtaining official permission. I would like to reiterate that we are proud of the sacrifices of the martyrs, the prisoners, and the wounded,” Abbas said in that speech, as translated by MEMRI.
"We feel the suffering and sacrifices of the refugees at home and abroad. It is our responsibility to bring the displaced people back to their homes, in Gaza, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas, and to provide shelter and services to them. I told you once, and I stand by my word, that if we have only a single penny left, it will go to the prisoners and the martyrs. I will not allow [anyone] – and neither will you – to remove any commitment, interest, or penny that is given to them. They must receive everything they did in the past, and they are more honorable than all of us," he added.
PA officials have remained defiant about the issue of payments to terrorists and have made clear that the PA will never cease paying terrorists' salaries.
Abbas has in the past called the PA's continued payments to terrorists a "red line" that would not be halted under any circumstances.
The Israeli government has in the past decided to offset the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA because of the monthly financial aid it provides to terrorists and their families.