Israel targets exchange offices in the West Bank
The Israeli army carries out raids in the West Bank in the evening. The focus is on exchange offices from which money is said to have been transferred to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians attack the soldiers, who shoot and fatally shoot one man.
Israeli soldiers have killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, one Palestinian died during a night raid in Ramallah. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, 14 other people were injured in clashes with the soldiers, four of them by gunfire. Three Palestinians were arrested.
According to the Israeli military, the raids were directed against exchange offices accused of financing militant Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Investigations by the security authorities had recently uncovered the money transfers to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military now spoke of a "large-scale operation to confiscate Hamas terror funds". The office of Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant stated that "millions of shekels for Hamas and Islamic Jihad" were confiscated during the raid. According to Wafa, the sum amounted to a total of ten million shekels (around 2.5 million euros). Because of their activities, several of the bureaux de change were classified as terrorist organizations, Gallant's office explained.
An AFP reporter in Ramallah observed Palestinians throwing incendiary devices at Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army said its soldiers had fired on attackers who had thrown explosive devices, Molotov cocktails and stones and shot at Israeli security forces. The Red Crescent said its medics had treated people injured by Israeli soldiers in several locations in the West Bank - in the districts of Hebron, Jericho, Jenin and Nablus.
Since the unprecedented attack on Israel by the radical Islamic group Hamas on October 7 and the start of the Gaza war, tensions in the occupied West Bank have also increased significantly. The Israeli army has stepped up its operations there. According to Palestinian figures, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed 314 Palestinians in the West Bank since then. According to Israeli and Palestinian sources, numerous militant Palestinians were among them.
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The Israeli military alleges that some exchange offices in the West Bank are funding militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, leading to night raids aimed at confiscating terror funds. This has escalated tensions in the region, with clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers resulting in injuries and arrests. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports the death of a Palestinian during one of these raids.
Source: www.ntv.de
