Palestinian gov't resumes stipends to ex-detainees

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – After a three-month cut, the Palestinian government on Tuesday decided to resume monthly stipends paid out to more than 350 prisoners and ex-prisoners in Israeli jails.

"It was agreed to resume monthly stipends paid out to ex-detainees in the West Bank and detainees in Israeli prisons without any exception," Mansour Shamasneh, spokesperson for detained and formerly detained Palestinians, told a press conference.

He said he has received assurances from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) to follow up on the issue of salaries to former detainees in the Gaza Strip.

In May, the PA reduced monthly stipends handed out to roughly 300 Palestinians who were released by Israel in a 2011 prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas.

About 50 of those released in 2011, however, have been re-arrested by Israel over the past three years.

The Israeli government has long accused the PA of “encouraging terrorism” by paying stipends out to ex-detainees and their families.