PA cancels social welfare allowances for prisoners, martyrs' families

By Al Mayadeen English
10 Feb 2025 21:32

All families that previously benefited from the former laws, regulations, and systems will now be subject to the same criteria applied to all families.

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Tima Al-Khatib weeps over the body of her 2-year-old daughter Laila during her funeral in the West Bank village of al-Shuhada, near Jenin, Sunday, January 26, 2025. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree canceling the financial allowance system for the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded, as stipulated in the Prisoners' Law and the regulations issued by the Cabinet and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

He also decided to transfer the computerized cash assistance program, along with its database and financial allocations—both local and international—from the Ministry of Social Development to the Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Institution.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the following amendments were made:

1. All families that previously benefited from the former laws, regulations, and systems will now be subject to the same criteria applied to all families benefiting from social protection and welfare programs. These criteria are based on inclusivity and fairness, ensuring that all families in need receive assistance without discrimination.

2. Under this amendment, all responsibilities related to social protection and welfare programs in Palestine have been transferred to the Palestinian Economic Empowerment Institution, which will now be responsible for providing these services to all Palestinian families in need, without discrimination.

The decree is expected to impact thousands of Palestinian families whose members have either been arrested, wounded, or martyred, particularly throughout the Israeli aggression over the past 15 months.

West Bank healthcare in dire state: MSF

This also comes as the West Bank's healthcare system has been in "a state of perpetual emergence" since October 2023, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported on Thursday.

"A dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions... have severely hindered access to essential services, particularly healthcare, exacerbating already dire living conditions for many Palestinians," the report said.

"Since October 7, 2023, the West Bank has seen a dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions."

The report examined "the attacks and the obstructions of healthcare in a context of, what has been described by the ICJ (International Criminal Court) as segregation and apartheid," revealing "a pattern of systematic interference by Israeli forces and settlers in emergency healthcare delivery."

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 884 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. The prevention of Palestinians from accessing healthcare was "part of a wider system of collective punishment imposed by Israel, under the guise of its crackdown on armed Palestinian men", MSF said, adding that Palestine's strained healthcare system in the West Bank has been under pressure since October 2023, and is also grappling with budgetary issues.