Palestinian Authority President Says Withheld Funds Would Pay Terrorists

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stated that tax funds withheld by Israel would be used to pay terrorists and public employees during a speech at the Eighth General Conference of Fatah. Abbas said the continued withholding of funds violates agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel as well as international law.

He added that the withheld amounts, which have exceeded $5 billion, need to be paid to public employees and to prisoners.

Israel began withholding the funds in 2022 after the Palestinian Authority used them to pay salaries of terrorists. A U.S. State Department report published last month stated that $156 million was paid to terrorists and their families last year. Of that total, $126 million went to Palestinian terrorists and $30 million went to families of terrorists who died committing acts of terrorism.

Watch founder and director Itamar Marcus told The Jerusalem Post that Abbas's admission must have significant international implications. Marcus said Western countries have been denying findings that pay-for-slay continues and have accepted statements that funding of terrorists stopped in September 2025.

The economic effects of the missing funds have forced public sector employees to receive only a fraction of their wages and have caused schools and other institutions to operate on a part-time basis.