Israeli army confiscates cash, valuables of Palestinian detainees from Gaza

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Betul Yilmaz

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli army has admitted to having seized cash and valuables of Palestinians detained in the Gaza Strip.

According to the daily Haaretz on Tuesday, the army confirmed that it is in possession of cash and thousands of objects belonging to Gazans arrested during the Israeli war on the enclave since October 2023.

Freed detainees and their lawyers said that the Israeli army did not return all the confiscated property to them.

The army, however, refused to give details about the amount of money and items of the Palestinian detainees or the orders governing the confiscation.

“This information hasn’t been collected in any central database,” it claimed.

Haaretz stressed that the Israeli army’s refusal to give details “violates the Freedom of Information Act, which requires any public agency to allow the public to see the orders under which it operates.”

There are no exact figures about the number of Gazans held by Israel, but estimates suggest that their numbers are in the thousands.

The Israeli army renewed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering a Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

At least 51,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.