Police arrest 14, seize money paid by Hamas to terrorists’ families in Jerusalem
Two weeks after Palestinian leadership announced it would allocate life stipends to the family members of a terrorist who killed four soldiers last month, police announced the confiscation of more than NIS 200,000 provided by Hamas to the families of seven other terrorists.
The Monday night raid, carried out by police and Border Police, targeted the homes of 14 suspects from east Jerusalem’s flashpoint neighborhoods Jebl Mukaber, Shuafat refugee camp, Ras el-Amud and A-Tur.
According to police, all the suspects received compensation from Hamas following deadly attacks carried out, or planned by, terrorists in the capital dating back to 1994.
The unidentified family members arrested are related to the following terrorists: Gasan Abu Jamil, who carried out the 2014 Har Nof synagogue attack, killing five; Ramdan and Fami Mashahra, who helped support and plan the murders of 19 Israelis in Gilo in 2002; Ayman Abbasi and Wisam Farg, who died in riots in Ras el-Amud in 2015; Imad Abbasi, imprisoned for involvement in unspecified terrorism; Hassan Nabi, who murdered Nachshon Wachsman in 1994; and Imad Shaer, imprisoned for planning an attempted 2013 kidnapping.
“After several weeks of gathering intelligence, police focused their operations as part of a joint investigation on finances transferred by the terrorist organization Hamas to families of known terrorists at seven locations across east Jerusalem,” said Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
“Police searched their homes and confiscated over NIS 200,000 in Israeli and foreign currency, three vehicles, and arrested 14 of the immediate family members. Similar operations will continue in the near future.”
Rosenfeld added that ongoing police patrols will continue to prevent further terrorist attacks in the capital.
Last month, the Palestinian Authority and PLO designated the east Jerusalem terrorist, Fadi al-Qunbar, who murdered four soldiers and wounded 17 others in an Armon Hanatziv truck attack, a “martyr,” and said his children and wife would be compensated for life.
Monetary rewards for terrorism is consistent with the PA’s longstanding law, which guarantees members of dead terrorists’ immediate families, as well as imprisoned terrorists, steady payments from government coffers.
Based on current PA provisions, all families of dead terrorists receive a minimum monthly payment of roughly NIS 1,500. Widows receive additional payments of NIS 400, while each child of the killer receives roughly NIS 200.
Additional payments are afforded to families of terrorists who reside in Jerusalem.
Yossi Kuperwasser, of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, who penned a study titled “Incentivizing Terrorism: Palestinian Authority Allocations to Terrorists and Their Families,” said billions of shekels have been allocated by the PA and PLO for killers and their families.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry has filed a motion to have 12 of Qunbar’s family members stripped of their residential status for allegedly supporting the attack.