Palestinian Authority Finance Minister After PMW Exposé: Pay-for-Slay Will Continue Despite Financial Distress

After Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) exposed the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s hidden continuation of the Pay-for-Slay program and the international attention that followed, PA Finance Minister Estephan Salameh has doubled down on the PA’s commitment to rewarding terror, even despite “great, almost impossible difficulty.”

Stating that it is a “clear, fundamental national issue,” Salameh declared that the PA has “not abandoned” any terrorist, “whether they are prisoners or families of Martyrs and wounded.”

Press conference host: “We [the PA] are in a deep financial crisis resulting from the occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] decision to continue withholding tax revenue funds for nine months [i.e., Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” Law to deduct terror salaries]. These tax funds constitute about 68% of the income of the State of Palestine.”

PA Minister of Finance Estephan Salameh: “We are going to pay part of the salaries, at a rate of 60% and a minimum of 2,000 [Israeli] shekels [just under $650 – ed.] — next Monday, [Feb. 16, 2026], before the start of the [Muslim fasting] month of Ramadan … With effort and great, almost impossible difficulty, we continue to provide this [60%] rate of [PA public employee] salaries. We have not abandoned any Palestinian resident, whether they are prisoners or families of Martyrs and wounded [i.e., terrorists]. This is a clear fundamental national issue. There are various demands for us to make reductions, … [but] despite the financial distress, we are still fulfilling all our commitments to the Palestinian citizens, every one of them. We are not reducing or forgoing any salary.”

[Wattan (independent Palestinian news agency), YouTube channel, Feb. 12, 2026]

Western donors who have bought the PA’s lies of having ended Pay-for-Slay should pay attention to the PA finance minister, who subtly referred to the “various demands for us to make reductions” but stressed the PA’s determination to continue rewarding terrorists.

This defiant announcement, coming from the most senior levels of the Palestinian Authority, further confirms what PMW has learned from various conversations between Pay-for-Slay recipients. As the PA finance minister said, despite “the financial distress,” the PA is doing all it can to make sure terrorists receive their rewards, even if it has just “one penny left.”

Ephraim D. Tepler is a researcher at Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared.