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Key Senate panel votes to slash Palestinian aid over ‘martyr’ payments

The Senate Appropriations Committee wrapped the Taylor Force Act into its annual foreign aid spending bill, greatly improving its chances of becoming law.
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 03:  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks about the Taylor Force Act while flanked by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) during a news conference August 3, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The legislation would stop economic aid to the Palestinian Authority until it halted payments to people who commit terrorist acts or payments to their families.  (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Congress has moved one step closer to cutting off economic assistance that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The powerful Senate Appropriations Committee voted overwhelmingly today in favor of a foreign aid bill that withholds certain economic assistance unless the PA stops paying stipends to the families of Palestinians imprisoned for terrorism or killed while attacking Israelis. The inclusion of the provision, named after slain US Army veteran Taylor Force, greatly increases the odds that it will become law.

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