Ever since the terror attacks of October 7, both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been trying to interject themselves into the debate over what will become of Gaza after Hamas has been destroyed by Israel. It's a challenging and complicated problem as we've discussed here before. Both Biden and Bibi Netanyahu have made reference to some sort of "civilian-level Palestinian body" that would take charge without specifying who would be involved in setting that up. More than a few people have suggested that this might involve the Palestinian Authority in some way, despite the PA having repeatedly asserted that they have no interest in being put in charge of Gaza. Almost seeming to hammer home the point that Mahmoud Abbas and his friends should be disqualified from any such role, the PA released a statement this week saying that they intend to honor their commitment to pay tens of millions of dollars in reward money to Hamas terrorists who killed or wounded Jewish people in the name of "the revolution." Are these really the people who need to be involved in rebuilding Gaza? (Free Beacon)

As President Joe Biden pushes to empower the Palestinian Authority in the name of Middle East peace, the PA has committed tens of millions of dollars in reward money to terrorists who were killed or captured while carrying out the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel and the resulting war.

Since Oct. 7, the PA has doubled down on its longstanding "pay for slay" policy, which gives salaries and benefits to Palestinians imprisoned for involvement in violence against Israel and to the families of those killed in "the revolution" against the Jewish state. The policy does not distinguish between terrorists and civilians. But based on Israel Defense Forces estimates of enemy casualties and prisoners, the PA has put itself on the hook for more than $97 million in such payments for more than 13,000 Hamas terrorists in the year following Oct. 7.

Everything about this runs contrary to the stated goals of those calling for a ceasefire and claiming that they simply want to help the people of Gaza. If there is to be a functional government in Gaza that is viable over the long term, one might assume that it would be a group that has rejected terror attacks and violence against the Jewish people. Otherwise, we will be left with nothing but a return to the status quo and Israel will be fighting the same group of attackers under a different name. 

Rather than rejecting Hamas, however, the Palestinian Authority will send payments to the people who committed the acts of terror on October 7 or the families of those who died while doing so. They are literally rewarding efforts to commit actual genocide against the Jewish people. Even worse, they are probably incentivizing future terror attacks. Hamas may be primarily funded and supplied by Iran, but they get plenty of support, including financial aid from the PA. The Palestinian Authority shouldn't be invited anywhere near this process.

This "pay to slay" program is a threat to the very existence of Israel. The money is given out indiscriminately to Hamas supporters whether they are uniformed fighters or supposed "civilians" in Gaza. And it's not just attacks on the IDF forces that qualify someone for the payments. They can collect if they are taken down while killing civilians or even children. Thanks to the earlier negotiations between Israel and Hamas, hundreds of Hamas fighters have already been released into the wild. They are no doubt already looking forward to picking up their checks from the PA and getting back to the business of attacking the Israelis. 

The public pressure on Israel to end the fighting and supply more humanitarian aid to the Gazans is immense. Thus far, Bibi Netanyahu has resisted, insisting that Israel's priorities be addressed, including the release of any remaining, surviving hostages and the bodies of the rest. Hamas clearly doesn't want to give up its last hostages for a couple of reasons. First of all, they see them as their only remaining insurance policy against being totally obliterated. But they also probably don't want the world to find out how many of them have already been killed and how badly the rest were abused. Headlines like those would likely tamp down public calls for a "kinder and gentler" approach to dealing with Hamas.

As such, we still appear to be at a roadblock in terms of finding a peaceful solution to the current conflict. If so, what other choice does Israel have aside from continuing to flood the terror tunnels and hunt down every last Hamas fighter and leader? I'd love to be the person brilliant enough to answer that question for you, but I simply don't see such a transformative path forward.