Both Palestinians and Israelis have expressed their skepticism over a statement by the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the Palestinian Authority had changed its policy on paying benefits to the families of convicted terrorists in Israeli jails.
On Tuesday, at a public hearing at the US Senate in Washington, Mr Tillerson said that in their meeting last month, President Donald Trump had asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to end the payments to prisoners’ families.
He said that as a result, “they have changed that policy and their intent is to cease the payments to families of those who have committed murder of violence against others. We have been very clear with them that this is simply not acceptable to us.”
The Palestinian Authority and its Prisoners Directorate said on Wednesday that there was no change in policy, however.
