Israeli security forces confiscated vehicles, gold and cash totaling hundreds of thousands of shekels during a raid on the eastern Jerusalem homes of terrorists and their families who receive stipends from the Palestinian Authority, the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit said on Wednesday.
The operation was carried out pursuant to seizure orders issued by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz against the payments made by the Palestinian Authority to terrorists and their families who are residents and citizens of Israel, the statement read.
“The sanctions were imposed following a recommendation by the National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing and in cooperation with the Israel Security Agency [Shin Bet] and police, as part of the broader economic campaign being waged by Israel’s security establishment against terrorist organizations, their sources of funding, and the mechanisms used to make payments to terrorists and their families,” police said.
Among the terrorists whose homes were raided were Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Abbad, who was involved in an attempted suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2002, and Ahed Faiz Ali al-Natsheh, a Hamas operative who was involved in planning the attack at Jerusalem’s Clal Center in 2001, in which two police officers and 10 civilians were wounded.
The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund provides monthly stipends to those imprisoned in Israel for attacks on Israelis, to the families of slain terrorists and to released prisoners.
After coming under pressure from Western countries to end its “pay-for-slay” program, he P.A. has attempted to avert it by creating new mechanisms of payment.
