Time to End "Pay to Slay" the Palestinian Authority’s Terror Funding Network

[Social Media]

 

With President Donald Trump’s inauguration, 2025 marks a critical opportunity for change in both the United States and the Middle East. One of the most pressing issues demanding immediate action is the financial pipeline that channels Western aid into the hands of terrorists, in direct violation of both U.S. and Israeli law. At the heart of this system are the Palestinian Authority’s Martyrs’ Fund and Prisoners’ Fund—programs that sustain and incentivize violence through direct payments.  

 

The Martyrs’ Fund provides financial support to the families of terrorists, while the Prisoners’ Fund, established in 2004, ensures stipends for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Together, these programs institutionalize a system of “pay-for-slay,” rewarding terrorism and undermining any chance for genuine peace. Under current Palestinian Authority (PA) law, convicted terrorists—including those released as part of recent ceasefire agreements—are guaranteed lifelong payments. This policy sends a clear message: violence is not only accepted but financially rewarded. The Trump administration must act decisively to shut down this system once and for all.  

 

"This is how a Palestinian terrorist prisoner, who was released from an Israeli jail, was received in Gaza."

This is how a Palestinian terrorist prisoner, who was released from an Israeli jail, was received in Gaza.

They're all monsters. A society that praises death and jihad.

pic.twitter.com/shk8khXEX5

— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) February 8, 2025

 

The numbers are staggering. In 2016 alone, the PA allocated $315 million—amounting to 8% of its budget—toward payments for terrorists and their families. These monthly stipends frequently surpass the average salary in the West Bank. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has openly declared, “If we are left with one penny, we will spend it on the families of prisoners and martyrs.” The financial incentives don’t stop with monthly payments; terrorists released from Israeli prisons receive additional benefits. Those who served between one and three years are given a $1,500 bonus, while prisoners incarcerated for 30 years or more receive $25,000. In addition to these payments, they are granted free health insurance, university tuition waivers, and guaranteed government jobs, with promotions linked to the length of their prison sentences. Those who served the longest are awarded ranks equivalent to senior government officials.  

 

The tragic case of Taylor Force, a 28-year-old West Point graduate, highlights the deadly consequences of these policies. In 2016, Force was brutally stabbed to death in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. Despite his senseless murder, the terrorist’s family continues to receive monthly payments from the PA. In response, Congress passed the Taylor Force Act in 2018, halting U.S. economic aid to the PA until these payments ceased. However, despite this legislation, the Biden administration did little to pressure the PA into ending its terror stipends.  

 

Recent events have only worsened the problem. The PA’s official newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, recently reported that 23,210 new “martyrs” and 3,550 new prisoners—including many Hamas members—became eligible for payments following the October 7, 2023, attacks. In addition, the 734 terrorists released as part of the January 26, 2025, prisoner exchange have already received nearly $142 million in compensation. One of them, Muhammad Al-Tous, has personally been awarded $631,394.  

 

The international community must recognize that the PA’s survival is dependent on foreign aid, much of which ends up funding terrorism. Yet, instead of taking responsibility, PA leaders frame any attempt to cut off these payments as “aggression against the Palestinian people.” Abbas has gone as far as to call these payments a “social responsibility,” even as his administration sought to gain control over Gaza—a move that would effectively hand governing power to an entity financing terror.  

 

The Trump administration now has a chance to reverse this dangerous reality. The PA must be held accountable for its role in sustaining terrorism, and international donors must be pressured to stop enabling a system that rewards violence. The time for action is now.

 

Based on a report by USA Today | Washington Examiner 2025-02-10

 

Related Topics

Legislation Reintroduced to Sanction Palestinian Leadership Over Terror Payments

 

 

[koolkarl]

Long overdue to shut down this payment system.  The west has been fast asleep for ages.  Next step is to send the muslims back to the countries they came from. 

[hotsun]

Not likely that terrorists will be able to celebrate anymore like they did for the previous four years

[Watawattana]

First time I've read about this.  Upon first reading I thought about how would young children be supported, so might some payments be justified.  But within about 10 milliseconds I thought the criminal should have thought about that before they did what they did.  Seems good that this funding should get stopped.

[bogozy]

6 hours ago, koolkarl said:

Long overdue to shut down this payment system.  The west has been fast asleep for ages.  Next step is to send the muslims back to the countries they came from. 

They was not asleep!  They did know, what are they paying, and they expected, change their money for dead jews!

[WDSmart]

According to the latest figures on the Internet:

- 891 Israelis have been killed in Gaza...

After a year of fighting: IDF reports 891 Israeli soldiers have died during war, including 390 in Gaza & 50 in Lebanon | All Israel News
- 46,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza...
Gaza death toll: how many Palestinians has Israel's offensive killed? | Reuters

 

I'd say the "Pay to Slay" is working more for the Israelis than the Palestinians. 

[Nick Carter icp]

8 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

According to the latest figures on the Internet:

- 891 Israelis have been killed in Gaza...

After a year of fighting: IDF reports 891 Israeli soldiers have died during war, including 390 in Gaza & 50 in Lebanon | All Israel News
- 46,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza...
Gaza death toll: how many Palestinians has Israel's offensive killed? | Reuters

 

I'd say the "Pay to Slay" is working more for the Israelis than the Palestinians. 

 

   There would have been no deaths at all if Hamas wasn't funded .

No deaths 

[WDSmart]

6 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   There would have been no deaths at all if Hamas wasn't funded .

No deaths 

Israelis have killed Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for well over 70 years, and they have been funded to do so. 

[Nick Carter icp]

1 minute ago, WDSmart said:

Israelis have killed Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for well over 70 years, and they have been funded to do so. 

 

   Palestinians do keep attacking Israelis and if they weren't paid to do it and the attacks stopped, then no more Palestinians would be killed 

[WDSmart]

2 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Palestinians do keep attacking Israelis and if they weren't paid to do it and the attacks stopped, then no more Palestinians would be killed 

I vehemently disagree with you. Israel will keep killing Palestinians until they force all of them out of Palestine because Israel wants that entire area for themselves. In current history, this has been going on since 1948.

[Nick Carter icp]

9 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

I vehemently disagree with you. Israel will keep killing Palestinians until they force all of them out of Palestine because Israel wants that entire area for themselves. In current history, this has been going on since 1948.

 

   That just isn't true , that's just how you imagine it to be  .

There isn't even a Country called Palestine and if Israel wanted to kill all the Palestinians then they could easily do it .

   Israel abides by the laws and its illegal to kill people in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank 

[Rotweiler]

It is true.  And I'm a neutral.

 

Want recent examples?  Look at the NY Times the 3 weeks before the start of the Gaza War.  MANY examples of the Israeli's attempting to block Gaza from the outside world.  And you deny that?

[Eloquent pilgrim]

 

The UN are complicit in this and have been funding the terrorists for years; payments made under the guise of “for infrastructure” but they forgot to mention that it has been for subterranean infrastructure.

 

And the UN’s affiliated agency UNRWA not only had members (operatives) take part in the atrocities, rapes, and slaughters of 7 October, they have been holding one of the hostages in one of their facilities, and refusing her medical treatment, even thought she had been shot in the leg and had 2 fingers missing from being shot in the hand ..... aid agency, ha .... Hamas agency. 

 

And still the left wing apologists for terrorism are on here deflecting, defending, and even justifying these vile muslim terrorists. And I see another one has just crawled out from the wood work, to join his mates. 

 

 

 

 

[Watawattana]

48 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   That just isn't true , that's just how you imagine it to be  .

There isn't even a Country called Palestine and if Israel wanted to kill all the Palestinians then they could easily do it .

   Israel abides by the laws and its illegal to kill people in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank 

Here's an example of Israelis targeting Palestinians.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settler_violence

The article indicates that it's a tiny minority of Israelis carrying out this violence, but it is still happening.

 

Agree there's no country called Palestine.

 

Would be nice if all illegal activities stopped, but I can't see that happening.  From all sides in this.  I'm not going to apportion blame, no point, neither side is in the clear on this.

[Eloquent pilgrim]

46 minutes ago, Rotweiler said:

It is true.  And I'm a neutral.

 

Want recent examples?  Look at the NY Times the 3 weeks before the start of the Gaza War.  MANY examples of the Israeli's attempting to block Gaza from the outside world.  And you deny that?

 

 

In 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from the PA, Israel declared Hamas a hostile entity, then in 2008 facing sustained rocket attacks to their southern settlements, Israel sealed the border.

 

Gaza also shares a border with Egypt, and Egypt sealed its border with Gaza in 2007. I wonder why you didn’t mention Egypt blockading Gaza for the last 18 years, especially as you are “a neutral”  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Watawattana]

14 minutes ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

Gaza also shares a border with Egypt, and Egypt sealed its border with Gaza in 2007.

Yeah.  Wiki has an article on this.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip.  Describes the reasoning for the closure in 2007, and a lot of what's happened since then in relation to that border.

 

NPR has a recent article on that border, saying that if they let Palestinians in then Israel may not let them back.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/26/1232826942/rafah-gaza-palestinians-egypt-border

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, Watawattana said:

Yeah.  Wiki has an article on this.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip.  Describes the reasoning for the closure in 2007, and a lot of what's happened since then in relation to that border.

 

NPR has a recent article on that border, saying that if they let Palestinians in then Israel may not let them back.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/26/1232826942/rafah-gaza-palestinians-egypt-border

Who says they'd want to go back? 

[Watawattana]

10 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Who says they'd want to go back? 

The media has reported many going back, and interviewed many who want to stay there and not leave to support what Trump is suggesting.

 

I guess if they all went to Egypt then they may not want to go back as Egypt is such a paradise.

[Bkk Brian]

1 minute ago, Watawattana said:

The media has reported many going back, and interviewed many who want to stay there and not leave to support what Trump is suggesting.

 

I guess if they all went to Egypt then they may not want to go back as Egypt is such a paradise.

The border closure happened in 2007 which also happens to be the year Hamas the terrorists took control of Gaza. Nothing to do with Trump.

[Hummin]

2 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   There would have been no deaths at all if Hamas wasn't funded .

No deaths 

Single minded thinking. Very naiv and ignorant 

[Bkk Brian]

9 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Single minded thinking. Very naiv and ignorant 

The topic is about Pay for Slay and that's what's happening right now.

 

Peace in Israel isn't possible until Palestinians stop paying terrorists to kill 

The program provides monthly payments to Palestinians convicted of violent acts against Israelis and imprisoned for their crimes. Crucially, these payments are not extended to those convicted of non-terror-related crimes. The payments increase with the length of the prison sentence, which perversely rewards perpetrators of the worse crimes.

For example, as of 2017, a prisoner sentenced to up to three years receives $400 monthly, while someone sentenced to 10 to 15 years earns more than $1,500 monthly. During incarceration, the Palestinian Authority also pays the individual’s social security and pension fees. The payments to prisoners are adjusted to account for increases in the cost of living.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/01/10/palestinian-authority-terror-payments-holocaust-survivor-israel/77543726007/

 

 

The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund are two funds operated by the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Foundation for the Care of the Families of Martyrs pays monthly cash stipends to the families of Palestinians killed, injured, or imprisoned while carrying out violence against Israel.[1] The Prisoners Fund makes disbursements to Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. In 2016, the PA paid out about NIS 1.1 billion (US$303 million) in stipends and other benefits.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Authority_Martyrs_Fund

 

[Nick Carter icp]

1 hour ago, Watawattana said:

Here's an example of Israelis targeting Palestinians.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settler_violence

The article indicates that it's a tiny minority of Israelis carrying out this violence, but it is still happening.

 

Agree there's no country called Palestine.

 

Would be nice if all illegal activities stopped, but I can't see that happening.  From all sides in this.  I'm not going to apportion blame, no point, neither side is in the clear on this.

 

   I was actually talking about Israel as a Country, rather than individual Israelis .

   Violence from both sides exists , but I disagreed with the claim that the Country of Israel was systematically  killing palestinians

[Nick Carter icp]

13 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Single minded thinking. Very naiv and ignorant 

 

   Its an actual fact .

If Hamas were not funded then there would have been no Oct 7 th and no 50 million killed in Gaza

[Social Media]

Way off topic post removed @SMIAI more of that nonsense and you'll also be removed. The topic is:

 

Time to End "Pay to Slay" the Palestinian Authority’s Terror Funding Network