Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his support for Arabs who were captured or killed while committing terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens.

In an interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abbas stated that, "Israel incites the US to see prisoners and martyrs as terrorists. They are soldiers and the sons of our nation...and they are the martyrs of the Palestinian people. And since then (1965), we have provided them [and their families] with allowances."

"Israel and the US says that this is supporting terrorism...I will not back down on this issue. The families of the martyrs will continue to receive their allowances in full." he added.

In response to the question of whether the allowances will continue to be extended to prisoners in Israeli prisons, Abbas answered, "certainly."

Israel and the US have pressed the PA to halt its payments to terrorists for years on the grounds that the policy encourages Arabs to attack Israelis. The PA policy of paying higher salaries to terrorists serving longer sentences means that the more heinous the and deadly the terror attack, the more the terrorist is rewarded by the PA for committing murder.

According to Palestinian Authority figures, the monthly allowance per prisoner is higher than that of an active member of the PA security forces. The PA budget for payments to terrorists in Israeli prisons skyrocketed to $158 million in 2017.

The US Congress is currently considering the 'Taylor Force Act,' a bill which would cut US funding to the Palestinian Authority as long as it continued its policy of payments to terrorists. The bill is named after Taylor Force, a former United States Army officer who was murdered in a stabbing attack in 2016, while walking along the Jaffa boardwalk.