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US-Palestinian relations

US President Donald Trump (left) greets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit on Gaza in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025. (Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP)
July 19, 2026, 5:19 pm
US claims PA’s prisoner payments reform a con, dismissing audit that suggested otherwise
While external review found welfare payments now conditioned on financial status instead of prison sentence, State Department says it didn’t examine ‘clandestine bypass channels’
By Jacob Magid
Demonstrators gather with placards bearing portraits of Palestinians currently detained by Israel, during a protest in solidarity with them in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 7, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
July 10, 2026, 10:22 pm
PA says external audit proves payments incentivizing attacks on Israelis have ended
Ramallah hoping results of external review will grant legitimacy to welfare reform long demanded by international community and will lead Trump administration to conduct similar assessment
By Jacob Magid
US President Donald Trump (left) meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit to support ending the two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (YouTube screenshot)
June 17, 2026, 3:18 am
US weighs boosting ties with PA as it seeks to advance Gaza plan and Abraham Accords
Officials tell ToI that sides have been holding talks with aim of signing an MOU, which PA hopes will lead to reopening of DC diplomatic office shuttered in Trump’s first term, but US enthusiasm waning
By Jacob Magid
President of the Palestine Football Association Jibril Rajoub is seen after speaking during the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada on April 30, 2026. (Photo by Don MacKinnon / AFP)
June 12, 2026, 3:19 pm
Palestinian soccer chief says US, Canada haven’t granted him visa to attend World Cup
Senior Palestinian Authority official Jibril Rajoub decries move as unfair, after attending soccer championship’s opening match in Mexico
By SAM METZ
Demonstrators hold placards bearing portraits of Palestinians detained by Israel during a solidarity protest in Ramallah on April 7, 2026. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
June 11, 2026, 4:14 am
External audit finds PA no longer rewarding security prisoners — diplomats
Western officials tell ToI that global consulting firm’s initial review shows Ramallah reformed welfare program to be needs-based instead of based on time served, contradicting US report
By Jacob Magid
US President Donald Trump (left) greets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit on Gaza in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025. (Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP)
April 30, 2026, 5:02 am
US says PA continuing to pay security prisoners despite reformed welfare criteria
Citing information from Israeli government and groups critical of the Palestinian Authority, State Department informs Congress that Ramallah not meeting benchmarks for lifting sanctions
By Jacob Magid
From left, High Representative for Gaza Nikolay Mladenov, Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, and Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, during a meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution in Brussels, Belgium, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/ Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
April 21, 2026, 2:53 am
‘They’re not easy’: Board of Peace envoy admits Hamas disarmament talks stalled
After terror group ignored his first ultimatum, Nickolay Mladenov says an agreement must be reached within two weeks or loss of momentum will be too difficult to overcome
By Jacob Magid, Reuters, Nurit Yohanan and Emanuel Fabian
Top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya delivers a speech marking the 38th anniversary of the terror group's establishment, December 14, 2025. (Screen capture: X/Al Jazeera)
April 16, 2026, 3:19 pm
US, Hamas reportedly hold direct talks, as Board of Peace disarmament plan stalls
Senior Trump official Lightstone meets with Hayya, as Hamas bucks ceasefire’s 2nd phase requirement that it give up weapons, arguing that Israel violating truce’s first phase
By ToI Staff, Jacob Magid and Emanuel Fabian
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh. (Collage/AP, AFP)
December 18, 2025, 10:14 pm
Huckabee holds rare meeting with PA official to discuss West Bank tensions — officials
Hussein al-Sheikh raises Israeli withholding of Palestinian tax revenues and asks for US envoy’s assistance in securing access to Jerusalem, Bethlehem holy sites for Palestinian Christians
By Jacob Magid
A Palestinian man at the Rafah border crossing holds his Palestinian Authority-issued passport on June 12, 2015. (Aaed Tayeh/Flash90)
December 16, 2025, 11:52 pm
US imposes travel ban on Palestinian Authority passport holders, citing war, terror
Nationals of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria also banned, plus 12 countries already on list; US was already reportedly rejecting Palestinians’ visa requests
By Agencies and Jacob Magid
Palestinians protest against the Palestinian Authority's prisoner payments reform outside the Prime Minister's Office in Ramallah on December 14, 2025. (Screen capture/ YouTube)
December 15, 2025, 10:32 pm
Palestinians protest PA prisoner payment reform, in apparent sign of implementation
Rallies staged in several West Bank cities over shift to stipends based on financial need instead of time served; Israel presents EU with dossier alleging reform not in place
By Jacob Magid and Lazar Berman
Buildings destroyed in the war between Israel and Hamas lie in ruins around the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, during an IDF-organized tour for journalists, November 5, 2025. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
December 12, 2025, 6:45 pm
Report: Israel agrees to US demand to pay for massive Gaza rubble-clearing operation
Washington said to expect Israel to finance, oversee debris removal as a 1st step toward reconstruction, in project that could cost over $1 billion and take years to complete
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff
Jared Kushner with his wife Ivanka Trump, acknowledges applause in the Knesset, Oct. 13, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
December 11, 2025, 1:10 am
Israel released detained Palestinian-American teen after Kushner intervened — sources
Involvement of Trump’s son-in-law comes after he opened communication channel with Abbas deputy to thank PA for helping motion endorsing US Gaza plan through UN Security Council
By Jacob Magid
US President Donald Trump (left) greets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit on Gaza in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025. (Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP)
December 3, 2025, 11:26 pm
US shelved sanctions on PA leaders after Abbas fired minister over prisoner payments
Ramallah believes quick dismissal of minister convinced Washington that Palestinian Authority is serious about implementation of reform to end ‘pay-for-slay,’ officials tell ToI
By Jacob Magid
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas poses for a picture with his new government, after it was sworn in on March 31, 2024, in Ramallah, in the West Bank. Finance Minister Omar Bitar is standing third from the left in the front row. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
November 10, 2025, 11:44 pm
Abbas fires his finance minister over illicit payments to Palestinian prisoners — sources
Palestinian official tells ToI cabinet shuffle highlights Ramallah’s commitment to implement reform ending ‘pay-to-slay,’ while Sa’ar says PA trying to ‘fool the world’
By Jacob Magid
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