PA offer to use U.S. funds to pay Hamas

We’ve known that the Palestinian Authority, whose budget is largely dependent on U.S. and European aid, all too often transfers money to Gaza that ends up in the pockets of Hamas brownshirts.  (See here, here, and here.)  Now the PA itself, not Hamas, has put an offer on the table to expand that funding.  From World Net Daily (h/t GoV) on Mar. 18:

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority has quietly offered to place tens of thousands of Hamas security forces on its payroll if Hamas joins in a unity government, according to information obtained by WND.

The PA is funded in large part by the U.S. and Europe.

Earlier this month, WND reported the PA has been engaged in an intense effort to convince the Hamas terrorist organization to join it in a new unity government.

According to a senior PA official, the PA has been sending mediators to Hamas in an effort to persuade it into a unity deal.

Now, WND has learned the PA has engaged in intense marathon talks with Hamas the past three days. As part of its latest list of incentives, the PA has offered to place between 15,000 and 20,000 of Hamas’ forces in Gaza on official PA salary if Hamas joins in a unity government.

The technical explanation being given by PA sources is that the Palestinian leadership feels it better to maintain one major financial apparatus to pay all security forces, instead of having a separate governmental system in Gaza run by Hamas.

Monthly salaries of Hamas security officers in Gaza typically range from between 800 and 1,500 shekel, or between $244 and $421…

Read the rest at WND here.