The Times of Israel reports: A senior Palestinian Authority official has rejected the “insane” US demand that it end its policy of providing social welfare payments to the families of Palestinian terrorists jailed for carrying out attacks against Israelis.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ foreign affairs adviser Nabil Shaath on Thursday told Israel Radio the Trump administration’s demand was intentionally designed to sink any potential for renewed US-led Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He told the radio station that the Palestinian prisoners were victims of Israel’s control over the West Bank.

“It’s absurd to request that we stop paying the families of prisoners,” he said. “That would be like asking Israel to stop paying its soldiers.” At the same time, Shaath insisted Abbas’s first meeting with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday was a positive one.

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