Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has assembled a special team to prepare for talks with the Biden government over controversial payments the Palestinian Authority has sent to Palestinian prisoners in Israel, many of them on terrorism charges.
Why it matters: The prisoner grants – called by the Trump administration “pay for manslaughter” – are the most important issue for the Biden government, as they prepare to enter into talks with the Palestinians again.
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Send the news: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has instructed Shtayyeh to find such a solution. Shtayyeh put together a team of lawyers and experts, and he discussed the issue earlier this week during a call with Hady Amr, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Israel-Palestine.
What they say: “We know we need to find a solution to the prisoner payments, but this is an important issue for many Palestinians and any solution must be worthy,” a Palestinian official told me.
What to look for: One incentive that the Biden government could offer the Palestinians to make concessions for the payments would be the signing of a long-sought-after presidential pardon that cancels the designation of the PLO as a terrorist organization.
What’s next: State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday that the government wanted to renew humanitarian aid to the Palestinians quickly because Trump’s suspension of aid “did not achieve political progress or compromises of the Palestinian leadership and only hurt the Palestinian people. “
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