Shtayyeh: Banks to freeze decision to close prisoners’ accounts

Bank branches attacked with gunfire, petrol bombs.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh gestures as he arrives for a cabinet meeting of the new Palestinian government, in Ramallah, April 15, 2019 (photo credit: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS)
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh gestures as he arrives for a cabinet meeting of the new Palestinian government, in Ramallah, April 15, 2019
(photo credit: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced on Friday that banks in the West Bank would freeze their decision to close bank accounts of Palestinian security prisoners.
Shtayyeh said his office has reached agreement with the banks to freeze their action until a committee established to look into the issue presents its recommendations.
Last week the banks started closing accounts of prisoners after receiving a warning from the Israeli research institute Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).
In a letter to the banks, PMW warned that failing to close the accounts could result in potential criminal and civil action “for aiding and abetting the payment of the PA’s terror rewards to terrorist prisoners when Israeli legislation regarding this procedure is applied in two days.”
On February 9, the IDF Central Command issued amendment No. 67 to a key security order. This transformed facilitating the PA’s payment of monthly salaries to prisoners into a prohibited terror-financing action.
The new IDF legislation, which went into effect yesterday, declares “that any person who conducts any transaction with assets, including money, in order to facilitate, further, fund, or reward a person carrying out terror-related offenses, is himself committing an offense punishable with 10 years in prison and a substantial fine.”
The bank’s decision to close the accounts has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinians. In the past 48 hours, a number of banks were attacked with gunfire and petrol bombs in some Palestinian cities. Palestinian sources said some of the attacks were carried out by Fatah gunmen.
In Ramallah, masked men sprayed graffiti on the walls of the Cairo-Amman Bank accusing the banks of “acting in a disgraceful way and of being biased in favor of the occupation terrorism.”
Several Palestinian factions issued statements on Friday and Saturday strongly condemning the Israeli “threats” and the banks’ decision to close the accounts.
Last week the Palestinian Monetary Authority, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, the Association of Banks in Palestine and the PA Ministry of Finance set up a joint committee to study the repercussions of the new Israeli legislation, which criminalizes the salary payments to the prisoners.
The Association of Banks in Palestine denounced the attacks on some bank branches and called on the PA authorities to hold those responsible to account.
Shtayyeh said in a statement that the PA government was not notified in advance of the banks’ decision regarding the closure of the accounts of the prisoners. According to the statement, the measure was carried out “in violation of [the PA government’s] procedures and instructions.”
The committee established by the PA prime minister has begun its work on assessing the risks facing the accounts of the families of the prisoners and the implications of the Israeli military order on the operating banks, the statement added. Shtayyeh also condemned attacks on bank branches after their decision to close the accounts of the prisoners.
The families of some prisoners said they received phone calls from the banks last week informing them of the decision to close the accounts. The mother of prisoner Dia al-Agha said the salaries were intended to support the inmates and their families. “The banks should reject the Israeli threats,” she said.
Qadri Abu Baker, head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Commission, said at least five banks have already closed the accounts of prisoners. He said the decision was taken out of fear that Israel would impose sanctions on the banks. Abu Baker revealed that 12,000 prisoners have been receiving salaries from his commission.
Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the PA General Authority of Civil Affairs and member of the Fatah Central Committee, condemned the closure of the bank accounts and said it “violates the dignity of every Palestinian.” He called creating a Palestinian national consensus “to protect our families and their rights.”
Tawfik Tirawi, former head of the PA General Intelligence Service, called on the banks “not to surrender to the threats of the occupation.” He claimed that the new Israeli legislation was “an episode of the miserable Deal of the Century,” a reference to US President Donald Trump’s plan for Mideast peace, unveiled earlier this year.
Monir al-Jaghoub, a senior Fatah official, said that the PLO has been paying stipends to the prisoners and their families long before the signing of the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993. He urged Palestinians not to attack the bank branches.