American money ear-marked for PA security used to pay families of terrorists from Jenin - report

The Palestinian Authority's General Security Service (GIS) has apparently admitted to using American money earmarked for security to pay the family of terrorists from Jenin, according to a Palestinian Media Watch report.

According to the report, on April 4, 2024, PA news agency WAFA published that the GIS in Jenin had given a grant to "the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners from the service’s ranks in the district."

The GIS gave grants to around 36 families from among the "martyrs and prisoners."

The vast majority of those identified as "martyrs" or "prisoners" were members of the GIS who had committed acts of terror, according to the PMW.

The grant was given at the direction of PA General Intelligence Chief Majed Faraj, who emphasized a core principle of Mahmoud Abbas: "If we are left with one penny, it will be paid to the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners."

Taylor Force Act

The US had all but ceased providing funds for the PA after the implementation of the 2017 Taylor Force Act, which blocked all funding for the PA general budget.

The act was named for Taylor Force, an American citizen killed in a terror attack in 2016, where the attacker's family received money from the PA's pay-for-slay program.

The exception to this was the funding of the PA's security sector, which received around $45 million in 2022, according to the State Department's website.

The PMW says that this money was then used to not only provide funds for terrorists and their families but also to train PA security forces, many of whom end up involved in terrorism, according to PA statements in 2023.

The PMW charge that US funds are now being used to directly fund and train terrorists in the West Bank.