(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Palestinian Authority yesterday said direct financial assistance by Iran to the families of Palestinians killed in a five-month wave of violence would be unacceptable.
Tehran announced last week assistance would be offered to families of Palestinians killed in the wave of violence that erupted in October, but the PA says such aid must follow official channels.
Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, cited by local media, said bypassing the authority in handing out such funds would constitute illegal interference in internal Palestinian affairs.
Iran should "send this money through official channels to the (PA's) Martyrs and Prisoners Foundation rather than relying on informal and circuitous routes," Abu Rudeina said.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mohamed Fathali, said last Wednesday that Tehran would offer $7,000 to the families of each Palestinian killed in what he called the "Jerusalem intifada".
Iran will also give $30,000 to Palestinian families whose homes have been destroyed by Israel because a member is accused of carrying out an anti-Israeli attack, he told a news conference in Beirut.
The money pledged is in addition to the monthly aid paid since 1987 by an Iranian institution to families of Palestinians killed, he said.
The wave of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October has killed 177 Palestinians as well as 28 Israelis, an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean, according to an AFP toll.
Most of the Palestinians who died in the violence were killed by Israeli forces while carrying out knife, gun and car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
Others were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes and demonstrations.
Iran has been accused of providing support to Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip and is a rival to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party. Fatah dominates the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian economists have questioned whether Iran would be capable of distributing the aid to the families directly via banks since it could be considered "terrorism financing".
Settlement closed after attack
Palestinians have been barred from entering one of the largest Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank for five days after an attack that critically wounded a security guard, an official said yesterday.
The Israeli police ban on entry to the Maale Adumim settlement is to last until Thursday and affects some 500 Palestinian labourers, a spokesman for the settlement said.
Palestinians had initially been banned after the attack on Friday but the measure has now been extended.
The decision came as Israeli authorities announced that overnight they had arrested the Palestinian accused of committing the knife and hatchet attack at a shopping mall in the settlement.
The suspect was identified as Saadi Ali Abu Hamad, 21, from the nearby town of Al Azariya. Israeli police said someone linked to his family told authorities he was ready to turn himself in, which led to his arrest.
Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, has a population of about 36,000 and is one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the unrest.
Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence.
Many of the attackers have been young Palestinians, including teenagers, who appear to have been acting on their own.
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