Palestinian Authority to provide 'grants' for prisoners released from Israel

Grants intended to honor prisoners' "sacrifices and in order to guarantee them a suitable standard of dignified living."

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Freed Palestinian prisoner prisoner Hosni Sawalha 370 (photo credit: Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters)
Freed Palestinian prisoner prisoner Hosni Sawalha 370
(photo credit: Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters)
The Palestinian Authority government decided on Tuesday to provide "grants" to Palestinian prisoners who were recently released from Israeli prisons.
A statement issued by the government following its weekly meeting in Ramallah said that the "grants" were being presented to the prisoners in honor of their "sacrifices and in order to guarantee them a suitable standard of dignified living."
The government did not say how much each prisoner would receive.
The decision concerns the 26 prisoners who were released by Israel on the eve of the resumption of the peace talks with the PA.
The prisoners were imprisoned before the signing of the Oslo Accords for their role in terror attacks against Israel.
The PA regularly provides financial support to Palestinian prisoners and their families, including some who are not affiliated with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.