Palestinian leader vows to keep paying attackers' families

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will continue paying stipends to Palestinian attackers and their families despite the Israeli parliament's decision last week to withhold those funds from taxes collected on the Palestinian Authority's behalf.

Abbas told a meeting of Fatah party leaders yesterday that his government will keep paying "our martyrs and prisoners and wounded people" as it has since 1965.

The stipends total approximately USD 330 million, which is about 7 per cent of the Palestinian Authority's USD 5 billion budget in 2018.

Israel says the payments encourage violence, a claim the Palestinians dismiss.

Abbas also voiced opposition to the Trump administration's efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

He said he will not let Trump's "Deal of the Century" work, saying some Arab countries have also rejected the US plan.