The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported today that an Israeli force seized 200 million shekels (54.3 million dollars) a week ago after raiding the Palestine Bank in Gaza City.
According to the newspaper, officers in the army – not named – stated that “Israeli soldiers were in the Rimal neighborhood in the heart of Gaza and risked their lives to take hundreds of millions of shekels that were allocated to the Palestinian Authority from the Palestine Bank.”
They mentioned that the soldiers seized 200 million shekels from the Palestine Bank, which was intended to be sent to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Israeli army officials told the newspaper that the seizure of Palestinian funds occurred after soldiers came under sniper fire in the vicinity of the bank. The force then reached the bank and raided it.
The newspaper questioned, “Why should Israeli soldiers expose themselves to danger in an operation aimed at taking money that was meant to reach the Palestinian Authority?”
The Israeli army spokesperson told the newspaper that “Israeli forces operated in the Palestine Bank in Gaza a week ago to prevent the money from reaching Hamas.”
He added that this move “was based on a political decision, and the retention of the money and the destination it would be transferred to are subject to its decision.”
As of yesterday, the Israeli war on Gaza had resulted in 28,176 martyrs and 67,784 injured – mostly children and women – in addition to thousands missing under the rubble, according to Palestinian authorities.
It also caused immense destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with a shortage of food, water, and medicine, displacing around two million Palestinians, more than 85% of the population in the sector, according to the United Nations.
