Abbas explains the details of stopping the allowances for prisoners and martyrs and the role of the 'Tamkeen' institution

Following a wave of anger due to the Palestinian Authority stopping allowances and salaries for prisoners and martyrs, expressed by official and human rights institutions and members of the Central Committee of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement 'Fatah', the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement clarifying the circumstances of stopping prisoners' allowances, the role of the 'Tamkeen' institution to which their files were referred, and linking this to the reform program adopted by the Palestinian leadership.

And Abbas confirmed in the statement -whose text was published by the official Palestinian news agency- 'with clarity and no ambiguity, that honoring the sacrifices of our righteous martyrs, our heroic prisoners, our wounded, and their steadfast families, is a firm national and moral commitment, not subject to bidding or political exploitation, and it is not permissible to use it as a means for incitement or to provoke division or harm our legitimate national state institutions'.

And he pointed out that the decision by law number (4) for the year 2025, related to the Palestinian National Institution for Economic Empowerment aimed at unifying social protection and care programs under the administration and responsibility of one national institution, which is the institution to which prisoners' allowances were referred, comes within a comprehensive reform vision 'aimed at unifying and organizing the social protection and care system, ensuring justice, transparency, and sustainability in providing allowances, according to adopted objective and professional standards, and in a way that preserves the dignity of beneficiaries and safeguards their rights'.

Incitement and distortion

In this context, Abbas confirmed that 'Tamkeen' is an official national institution with an executive character, working exclusively on implementing policies and decisions issued in accordance with legal provisions, and does not possess any legislative or political powers.

And he continued that 'burdening the institution or those in charge of it with responsibilities outside the framework of its legal role is considered mixing the cards, and unjustified harm to a national institution performing its duty within the framework of the unified reform and social protection system'.

And in last February, the Palestinian President issued a presidential decree 'to cancel the provisions in the laws and regulations related to the system of paying financial allowances to families of prisoners, martyrs, and wounded, in the Prisoners' Law and the regulations issued by the Council of Ministers and the Palestine Liberation Organization' and referred the powers of all social protection and care programs in Palestine to the 'Tamkeen' institution.

And the Palestinian President added in his statement that he follows 'with interest and responsibility the discussions and campaigns raised on some social media platforms, and what sometimes accompanies them of incitement and distortion of facts, which does not serve the supreme national interest, and does not align with the magnitude of the existential challenges we face' in reference to a wide campaign against the institution for not disbursing prisoners' allowances.

Abbas cancels the financial systems for paying prisoners' and martyrs' allowances and refers them to Tamkeen institution (social media sites)

Continuing with reforms

And the Palestinian President pledged to continue implementing a comprehensive national reform program, aimed at developing and updating the legal and institutional system of the State of Palestine, consolidating the rule of law, enhancing principles of good governance, transparency, accountability, and ensuring the separation of powers, in a way that serves the public interest and strengthens citizens' confidence in their state's institutions.

And he continued that the reform program includes 'reviewing and updating the laws regulating political, administrative, economic, and social life, and foremost among them the laws related to financial governance, public administration, judiciary, combating corruption, and enhancing the independence of oversight institutions, in a way that ensures efficiency of performance and fairness of application'.

And he affirmed his commitment 'to completing constitutional and political reform, including working on preparing the necessary constitutional frameworks for the organized transition from the national authority stage to the state stage, updating election laws, and issuing a modern law for political parties, on clear democratic bases, ensuring commitment to the political program of the Palestine Liberation Organization, international legitimacy, the two-state solution principle, the single law, and the single legitimate weapon'.

And he pointed out that the reform program also includes developing the education sector 'including reviewing and updating educational curricula according to international standards, in a way that aligns with our Palestinian national identity, and enhances values of tolerance, respect for the law, rejecting violence and incitement, without harming our fixed national rights or our historical narrative'.

And he emphasized that 'preserving our national unity, protecting civil and societal peace, and safeguarding our legitimate institutions, form basic pillars for confronting the occupation and its aggressive plans, and it is not permissible to allow any inciting or slanderous discourse to distract our national compass or weaken our internal front'.

Anger from 'Tamkeen'

And the recent days witnessed a wave of widespread anger from the 'Tamkeen' institution for not disbursing allowances to families of prisoners and martyrs, while the institution says that its work is governed by the law.

And on December 18 of this year, the institution confirmed in a statement the cancellation of the application of previous legislation related to prisoner payments, and that it does not, and will not, disburse any financial payments to families of prisoners or martyrs or wounded based on any legislation, or social allowances except according to the social research system.

And on Sunday, the head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Department affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization, Raed Abu Al-Hummus, responded to the institution's statement, calling for its exclusion from all details of the scene in disbursing allowances for families of martyrs, prisoners, and wounded, 'for what its policies carry of denial of the struggles of our people's sons'.

And Abu Al-Hummus called on the Central Committee of Fatah Movement to adopt a statement issued by him on this matter by member of the committee Tawfiq Tirawi 'as an official position' from Fatah Movement.

And Tirawi said in his statement that imposing social survey forms on prisoners and their families, and linking their financial and moral rights to evaluations and standards that do not befit their struggle history 'is a nationally and morally rejected behavior, and opens the door to branding this institution with suspicious behaviors that contradict national constants and our people's dignity'.

And he added that 'prisoners, wounded, and families of martyrs are not a social burden or emergency humanitarian cases, but they are the vanguard of the Palestinian national movement, and their rights are a national and legal duty not subject to discussion, bargaining, or reclassification'.

And Abu Al-Hummus said that Tirawi's statement 'came at a time when we found hundreds and thousands of prisoners and released prisoners, most of them leaders and cadres from Fatah Movement who spent long years in prison, alongside thousands of families of martyrs and wounded in a state of tension and confusion, due to the policies and decisions taken by Tamkeen institution, which wanted to turn categories of fighters into special social categories, according to a social survey form'.

Israeli and American pressures

And for years, the Palestinian Authority has been subjected to Israeli and American pressures because of paying allowances to families of prisoners and martyrs, where Israel deducts from Palestinian tax funds amounts equivalent to those paid to those families.

But despite several months having passed since stopping prisoners' allowances, Israel has not released the tax funds that exceeded 4 billion dollars, but continues to withhold the full funds, which has made the Authority unable to pay its employees' salaries in full.

And in 2018, Congress issued a law to prevent the Palestinian Authority from paying benefits to individuals from families of Palestinian martyrs and prisoners. And the law prevents the American government from providing economic aid that would directly benefit the Palestinian Authority until it stops providing these benefits.

And until 2020, the number of released prisoners' accounts reached 7500, while the total bill is approximately 50 million shekels (15.6 million dollars) monthly, according to previous data from the Prisoners Affairs Department