Palestinian officials expressed "great concern" Thursday over a report by the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor that includes a warning that Palestinian stipends to attackers and their families could constitute a war crime.
Ramallah's "pay-for-slay" policy has long been condemned by Israel and the US as a practice that encourages violence. The Palestinians argue these payments are a national duty to families affected by decades of violence.
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The Palestinian Authority routinely spends hundreds of millions of dollars on payments to terrorists imprisoned in Israel and to the families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israel.
In 2018, for example, Ramallah spent $135 million on salaries and other payments to terrorists. In 2017, terrorists' stipends came to $358 million – 7% of the Palestinian Authority's total budget for that year and about 20% of the foreign aid it receives. In 2016, the PA allocated $322 million to these payments.
Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the prosecutor's office's report was "based on misleading narratives of a political nature ... rather than an objective and accurate description of the relevant facts."
The Palestinians have long sought redress with international bodies such as the ICC for what they consider Israeli crimes. President Mahmoud Abbas' government appeared to have been caught off guard by the language of the criticism found in the report.
Thursday's report, released in the Hague, highlighted possible crimes by both Israel and the Palestinians that are under investigation, including Israel's use of sometimes deadly force against protesters along the Israel-Gaza border fence, and Palestinian militant rocket fire and use of human shields in Gaza.
At the Palestinians' request, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened a preliminary investigation in 2015 into alleged violations of international law following the 2014 war between Israel and Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Thursday's report said the prosecutor "believes that it is time to take the necessary steps to bring the preliminary examination to a conclusion."
