Palestinian officials attended a mass funeral for five terrorists in Hebron this week. (Flash90)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered military funerals with full honors to terrorists and financial grants to their families.
Although it has been an open secret that the Palestinian Authority (PA) provides financial compensation to the families of terrorists killed in attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces, the information is now official.
This week, PA President Mahmoud Abbas ordered full military honors at the terrorists’ funerals and financial grants to their families, Channel 10 reported.
The announcement comes in the midst of a heightened wave of Palestinian terror against Israel that began in September. Abbas had encouraged the violence in comments to Muslim and Christian religious leaders in Ramallah, saying, “Every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every martyr will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.”
Palestinian head Abbas (C-L), celebrates with released terrorists from Israeli prisons in 2013. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
He also granted permission to wave Hamas flags at the funerals, which in any case always include incitement and are followed by extreme violence, as was the case on Saturday, when five terrorists were buried at a mass funeral after Israel returned the bodies.
“We will die, but Palestine will live,” thousands shouted, waving Palestinian flags, while protesters threw rocks at IDF forces.
Israel’s political echelon was outraged when the dead bodies were received in the Palestinian Authority (PA) with celebrations, in violation of the PA’s pledge not to do so.
Palestinian violence against IDF soldiers near Ramallah. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
During a meeting of the Israeli diplomatic-security cabinet about a month ago, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan opposed returning the bodies of terrorists, but Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon insisted on it, arguing that keeping them was tantamount to “body trafficking” and could prompt further violence.
Ultimately, the cabinet agreed on a split policy: In Judea and Samaria, which is under the jurisdiction of the defense minister, Ya’alon will decide the fate of the bodies. In eastern Jerusalem and within the Green Line, Erdan would be the deciding figure.
Appearing on Israel’s Channel 2, Ya’alon voiced disappointment that “the Palestinians did not live up to their word that there would be no celebrations.”
By: United with Israel
(With files from JNS.org)
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