Israeli security forces arrested a Palestinian man near Jerusalem who is suspected of receiving funds from Hamas in connection with its terror funding network.
By: TPS and World Israel News Staff
Israeli Border Police arrested a Palestinian from the Shuafat area, north of Jerusalem, on Sunday.
The man was arrested on suspicion of receiving funds from Hamas in Gaza and was apprehended outside of Shuafat.
The suspect was in possession of NIS 30,000 in cash at the time of his arrest.
Authorities believe the money represents payment for the suspect’s close relative, who is a known Hamas operative and is currently serving a sentence in an Israeli prison.
“This is part of the Israel Police and security organizations’ fight against funds used to fund terror, or that have originated from terror organizations,” a Border Police spokesman said in a statement.
Both the Hamas terror group and the Palestinian Authority (PA) provide payments to individuals who carry out terror attacks, and their families.
These payments are provided in the form of salaries, with some terrorists and their families receiving lifetime stipends. In the PA’s case, the payments increase in proportion to the heinousness of the crime committed.
Both Israel and the US have passed laws to target the Palestinian terror stipend system, in hopes that eliminating the financial incentive for terror will reduce the number of violent crimes committed against civilians.
The US’ law, the Taylor Force Act, conditions aid to the PA on its elimination of terror stipends, while Israeli’s law is designed to redirect Palestinian tax revenues, which Israel collects for the PA, to compensate terror victims and the families of those killed in attacks.