RAMALLAH, Tuesday, April 16, 2019 (WAFA)  - Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Saeb Erekat, said on Tuesday that the Palestinian leadership has proposed the recruitment of international legal experts to rebut Israel‘s claim that the salaries paid by the Palestinian Authority to the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are illegal.

During a meeting with Palestinian officials and civil society organizations on key developments related to the Palestinian prisoners and their living conditions inside Israeli prisons, Erekat recalled articles 81 and 98 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which provide for the protection of the victims of international armed conflicts, which he said apply to the case of the salaries paid by the Palestinian Authority to the prisoners and the families of those killed by Israeli forces.

In February, Israel entered into effect a law passed last year deducting millions of dollars in tax revenues collected by Israel every month on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, equal to the amounts of the salaries the PA pays to the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the families of those killed by the Israeli occupation forces.

The monthly customs revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority amount to more than $120 million, while the deducted money will be about $32 million.

Israel currently detains some 6,000 Palestinians for resisting its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The detainees are considered political prisoners in Palestinian society.

M.N