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Palestinian Officials Decry Abbas' Decree on Prisoners Payments

Qadura Fares, the Palestinian official responsible for prisoner affairs, speaks during a press conference, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Qadura Fares, the Palestinian official responsible for prisoner affairs, speaks during a press conference, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Palestinian Officials Decry Abbas' Decree on Prisoners Payments

Qadura Fares, the Palestinian official responsible for prisoner affairs, speaks during a press conference, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Qadura Fares, the Palestinian official responsible for prisoner affairs, speaks during a press conference, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Several Palestinian officials on Tuesday denounced President Mahmoud Abbas' decree ending payments to the families of those killed by Israel or imprisoned in Israeli jails, including many detained for attacks on Israelis.

The decree, issued the day before and which is expected to affect tens of thousands of people, transfers the administration of these payments to an independent foundation.

Qadura Fares, head of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority's committee overseeing prisoner affairs, called for the decree's immediate withdrawal, warning that it will impact "approximately 35,000 to 40,000" families both inside and outside the Palestinian territories.

"I urge you to reconsider this matter and withdraw this decree", Fares said at a press conference in Ramallah.

He added that such a significant decision should have been discussed at all levels of the Palestinian political leadership, arguing that "allowances for prisoners have always been a point of consensus" among Palestinian factions.

In a separate statement, Fares said that a civil society organization, the Palestinian Economic Empowerment Foundation, will now manage these payments and conduct audits to "verify the financial hardship" of prisoners and their families.

According to the official WAFA news agency, all those who previously benefited from payments would be "subject to the same standards applied without discrimination to all families benefiting from protection and social welfare programs".

Also present at the press conference was Hilmi al-Araj, head of the Center for the Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights, who called for the decree to be "rescinded as though it never existed," condemning both "its timing and its content, as the prisoners are on the verge of freedom."

Araj was referring to the ongoing prisoner releases coordinated with Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The existing law, passed in 2004, classified all Palestinian prisoners as government employees and provided them or their families with salaries based on factors such as sentence length, according to the decree.

Tuesday's press conference followed a meeting of Palestinian factions, according to a representative from one of the national groups who spoke to AFP.

Abbas' decree came in response to a US request and repeated Israeli pressure on the Palestinian Authority to abolish what critics refer to as the "Pay for-Slay" program.

The Israeli government argues that the scheme incentivizes violence against Israelis and considers it "funding and support for terrorism."

Israel has repeatedly used these financial allowances as a reason to freeze tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian movement and rival to Abbas government Hamas denounced the decision in a statement Monday evening, calling for its "immediate reversal".

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Arab World

Lebanon PM Says International Force Needed After UNIFIL

France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) wearing sunglasses shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prior to their meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) wearing sunglasses shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prior to their meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon PM Says International Force Needed After UNIFIL

France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) wearing sunglasses shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prior to their meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) wearing sunglasses shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prior to their meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanon will need some sort of international force after the withdrawal of the United Nations's UNIFIL mission scheduled for 2027, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said during a visit to Paris Saturday.

Some 10,800 UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers have manned a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon since March 1978, but they will have one year to leave Lebanon starting 31 December, under a resolution passed last August under pressure from the United States and Israel.

"We will always need an international presence in the south, and preferably a UN presence, given the impartiality and neutrality that only the UN can provide," Nawaf Salam said the day after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The force would need a mix of observers and peacekeepers, largely because of a "history of hostility" with Israel, he added.

UN peacekeepers current operate in southern Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese army, part of a ceasefire between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in place since November 2024.

While Israel was supposed to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, it has maintained them in five areas it considers strategic.

It regularly conducts airstrikes in the country on what it claims are Hezbollah sites and members, whom it accuses of rearming.

Questioned about Hezbollah's promised disarmament, Salam said Phase 2 of this process had begun "two weeks ago".

The Lebanese army says it has completed the first phase, which calls for disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River.

The second phase will involve disarmament between the Litani and the Awali River, an area further north that has significant Hezbollah influence.

"I can clearly see that Phase 2 has different requirements than Phase 1," said Salam, adding that Hezbollah's rhetoric had been "rather harsh".

"But let me be clear, we will not back down," he added.

Arab World

Syria Frees 126 Minors After Taking Prison from Kurdish Forces

Relatives of detainees who were set free from al-Aqtan prison gather, following the control of the prison by the Syrian government, in Raqqa, Syria January 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Relatives of detainees who were set free from al-Aqtan prison gather, following the control of the prison by the Syrian government, in Raqqa, Syria January 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Frees 126 Minors After Taking Prison from Kurdish Forces

Relatives of detainees who were set free from al-Aqtan prison gather, following the control of the prison by the Syrian government, in Raqqa, Syria January 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Relatives of detainees who were set free from al-Aqtan prison gather, following the control of the prison by the Syrian government, in Raqqa, Syria January 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria's government freed at least 126 minors being held in a northern prison on Saturday, state media reported, after taking over the facility from Kurdish forces as part of an agreement.

Footage on state television showed crowds gathered to welcome the released minors, while Syria's official SANA news agency published the names of the remaining detainees, allowing people to look for them online.

State television reported "the release... of 126 detainees under the age of 18 from Al-Aqtan prison" in Raqqa province, which has been used to hold ISIS group detainees.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Under military pressure from Damascus, which is seeking to extend its control across the country, the SDF has relinquished swathes of territory in recent days and withdrawn to parts of Hasakeh province in the far northeast.

On Sunday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a deal with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi that included a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration into the state, which will take responsibility for ISIS prisoners.

Kurdish fighters were transferred from the prison on Friday to the Kurdish-held city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane, in Aleppo province on the northern border with Türkiye.

The same day, SANA quoted the army as saying the Al-Aqtan transfer was "the first step in implementing the January 18 agreement under which the interior ministry will take over administration of the prison".

Arab World

Syria, Kurds Extend Truce to Allow Transfer of ISIS Detainees

Syrian security force members ride in the back of a pickup truck in the town of Ain Issa, northeastern Syria, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP)
Syrian security force members ride in the back of a pickup truck in the town of Ain Issa, northeastern Syria, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP)
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Syria, Kurds Extend Truce to Allow Transfer of ISIS Detainees

Syrian security force members ride in the back of a pickup truck in the town of Ain Issa, northeastern Syria, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP)
Syrian security force members ride in the back of a pickup truck in the town of Ain Issa, northeastern Syria, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP)

Syria's government and Kurdish forces on Saturday extended their truce by 15 days, with Damascus saying it was to support the US transfer of ISIS group detainees from Syria to Iraq.

Several sources had earlier told AFP the truce would be prolonged, with a Syrian official in Damascus citing the same reason.

In a statement, the Syrian defense ministry said the 15-day extension would take effect at 11pm (2000 GMT) on Saturday.

"The extension of the ceasefire comes in support of the American operation to transfer ISIS detainees from SDF prisons to Iraq," the statement added, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF also confirmed the extension, saying it was reached "through international mediation, while dialogue with Damascus continues".

"Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability," it said in a statement.

Damascus and the SDF had initially agreed to a four-day ceasefire on Tuesday after Kurdish forces relinquished swathes of territory to government troops, who also sent reinforcements to a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast.

Three sources, including a Kurdish source and a Syrian official in Damascus, had told AFP earlier on Saturday that the ceasefire would be extended.

- ISIS transfer -

After the SDF lost large areas to government forces, Washington said it would transfer 7,000 ISIS detainees to prisons in Iraq.

Europeans were among the 150 senior ISIS detainees who were the first to be transferred on Wednesday, and two Iraqi officials told AFP that a second batch of "up to 1,000 ISIS detainees" were being sent on Saturday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country is a key backer of Damascus but hostile to the SDF, had said during a TV interview Friday that in light of the ISIS prisoner transfers, "extending the ceasefire for a while longer might be considered".

The transfer is expected to take several days.

ISIS swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing massacres and other atrocities before ultimately being territorially defeated by the SDF and a US-led coalition.

The truce between Damascus and the Kurds is part of a new understanding over Kurdish-majority areas in Hasakeh province and a broader deal to integrate the Kurds' administration into the state.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's opposition forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

The new authorities are seeking to extend state control across Syria, resetting international ties including with the United States, now a key ally.

The Kurdish source said the SDF submitted a proposal to the authorities through US envoy Tom Barrack that would have the government managing border crossings -- a key Damascus demand.

It also proposes that Damascus would "allocate part of the economic resources -- particularly revenue from border crossings and oil -- to the Kurdish-majority areas", the source added.

Earlier this month, the Syrian army recaptured oil fields, including the country's largest, while advancing against Kurdish forces.

On Saturday, Syria's government freed at least 126 minors being held in a prison for ISIS detainees in Raqqa province in northern Syria after taking over the facility from Kurdish forces.