Israel raids homes of Palestinians released in Gaza hostage deal for allegedly continuing to receive ‘pay-to-slay’ stipends
Israeli forces in East Jerusalem raided family homes of former Palestinian security prisoners whom Israel freed in exchange for Hamas-held hostages, and who “continued receiving payments and cash benefits from the Palestinian Authority for the terrorist acts they committed,” the police and Defense Ministry say in a joint statement.
The statement does not specify when the raids took place.
Officers from the ministry’s Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing confiscated hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash, five vehicles and jewelry worth NIS 96,000 ($32,380), the statement says.
The seizure complied with a repossession order signed by Defense Minister Israel Katz against released Palestinian prisoners who still receive the PA stipends that Israel refers to as “pay-to-slay” payments, according to the statement.
Amid international pressure, and in a bid to position itself as a governing alternative to Hamas in Gaza, the PA last year enacted a welfare program that ended the payments.
The reforms, which tied all welfare recipients’ stipends to their financial situation rather than time served, sparked protests in the West Bank, and has failed to convince Israel and other PA critics, though an external audit earlier this year suggested the welfare reform was in effect.
According to the police and Defense Ministry statement, former prisoners whose homes were raided over PA payments include Ahed al-Natsheh, a Hamas terrorist convicted of planning a pair of 2001 attacks in Jerusalem, one of which wounded a dozen people; and Muhammad Abad, a Fatah terrorist convicted of planning a 2002 suicide bombing in Jerusalem.
Both were released under the second ceasefire deal with Hamas that was reached in January 2025.
Palestinian Jerusalem-based outlet Al-Qastal reports that two other prisoners released in that deal were summoned for interrogation today after Israeli forces raided their homes in the East Jerusalem area of Silwan.
They are named as Muhammad Farroukh and Amir Farroukh, members of a group the Shin Bet busted in 2017 that carried out several firebombings and other attacks in the capital and was planning shootings, according to the interior security agency.
A Justice Ministry list of prisoners set for release as part the early 2025 hostage deal identified both Farroukhs as Fatah terrorists.
