Netanyahu urges Palestinian Authority to end payments to families of Palestinian martyrs

Rasa - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the Palestinian Authority to halt payments to the families of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.

News ID: 430434

Date: 18 June 2017 - 22:52

RNA - "Of course, the Palestinian Authority is refusing to condemn the murder and the same authority will now pay financial compensation to the murderers' families," media outlets quoted Netanyahu as saying at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

"Instead of condemning the attack, Fatah... issued a statement in which it condemn(s) the officers who killed the terrorists, and praised the murderers as heroes," Netanyahu said.

Female Israeli officer Hadas Malka was killed in a stabbing attack on Friday near Damascus Gate, which is one of the main entrances to Jerusalem al-Quds’ Old City. Israeli forces shot three Palestinians dead in response to the assault.

A statement by the Ramallah-based Fatah movement carried on the official Palestinian news agency Wafa condemned the "killing" of the three Palestinians.

Fatah spokesman Osama al-Qawasmi denounced the killing of the three Palestinian teenagers as a “war crime by the Israeli occupation forces.” A series of messages posted on Fatah's Twitter account referred to "glory and immortality" of the three.

The Israeli regime and the administration of US President Donald Trump have recently increased pressure on the Palestinian Authority to halt payments to the families of martyrs.

The occupied Palestinian territories have seen tensions ever since Israel introduced restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

More than 300 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of October 2015.

The Tel Aviv regime has tried to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem al-Quds over the past decades by constructing settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population. Palestinians say the Israeli measures are aimed at paving the way for the Judaization of the city.

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