GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Led by prominent factional figures and activists, hundreds of Palestinians swarmed the streets of downtown Ramallah in the West Bank on July 18. Protesters asserted that the stipends paid by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to Palestinian prisoners in Israel are a red line that Israeli authorities should not cross.

This protest is the first of many to be staged across various capitals of the world and in Palestinian governorates in the coming days and weeks. The movement is part of a national campaign launched during a meeting on July 12 in Ramallah by the PA's Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the PA-funded Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, and several factional bodies and activists. The campaign aims to counter the bill passed by the Israeli Knesset on July 2 freezing part of the PA funds used to pay the monthly stipends to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The new Israeli bill allows Israel to slash part of the Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA under previous interim peace accords. This part is equivalent to the monthly stipends paid by the PA to Palestinian prisoners convicted of carrying out attacks against Israeli targets and to the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in confrontations with Israelis. These monthly stipends are equal to $300 million a year.

The fresh bill provides that the deducted amount will be placed in a special fund aimed to compensate the families of Israelis who were killed during military operations with Palestinians.