Israeli Army Raids Currency Exchange Shops Across West Bank in Coordinated Crackdown
Occupation Forces Storm Palestinian Cities, Confiscate Funds, and Shut Down Exchange Businesses Under Allegations of “Terror Financing”.
Watan-On Tuesday, the Israeli occupation army raided currency exchange shops in several cities across the occupied West Bank.
Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli military stormed the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tubas (north), Ramallah (central), and Hebron and Bethlehem (south), targeting currency exchange businesses.
Witnesses said the forces conducted searches and caused damage inside these establishments.
The Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth confirmed the military launched a broad campaign targeting exchange shops across the West Bank, claiming the operation aims to seize funds “allocated for financing attacks against Israelis.”
الاحتلال يقتحم متاجر ذهب وصرافة في مدن الضفة الغربية ويصادر معدات ومبالغ مالية pic.twitter.com/AoFzS6g3M6
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 27, 2025
The newspaper added that the primary focus of the campaign is “confiscating terror-related funds, arresting shop owners, and shutting down the businesses by military order.”
The Palestinian Monetary Authority has not yet commented on the Israeli campaign.
Meanwhile, the Hamas movement condemned the escalation, describing Israel’s coordinated raids on economic institutions in the occupied West Bank as an “open war against the foundations of Palestinian resilience and steadfastness.”
In a statement, Hamas said Israel’s actions on Tuesday — including widespread and simultaneous raids in major cities targeting legal exchange shops and companies — represent “another chapter in the occupation’s open war on Palestinian life, economy, and every component of their resilience.”
The movement said the assault and confiscation of currency shop contents are “extensions of the piracy policies pursued by the occupation government, led by the extremist trio: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, as part of their colonial plan of annexation and displacement.”
Hamas called on the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities and take “effective measures to confront this aggression on the Palestinian economy, as it is inseparable from the broader aggression on Palestinian people, land, and identity.”
The statement also called for urgent international legal and humanitarian action to “form a political and legal front to pressure the occupation to halt its crimes, hold it accountable for pirating our people’s funds, and for its continuous violations against our land and resources.”
The Israeli army frequently launches similar campaigns against Palestinian exchange shops.
انسحاب عدد من آليات الاحتلال من وسط مدينة جنين بعد مداهمة محلاً للصرافة pic.twitter.com/6CLrmfrClz
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 27, 2025
One of the most notable was in December 2023, when Israeli forces raided exchange shops across most West Bank cities, seizing large sums of money. Hebrew media, including Channel 12, reported the seized amount at around 10 million shekels ($2.82 million), and several shop owners and employees were arrested.
At the time, the Israeli army claimed the shops were involved in transferring funds to Palestinian factions in Gaza — an accusation denied by the business owners, who asserted they operate under legal frameworks and are monitored by the Palestinian Monetary Authority.
The Authority stated then that the Israeli assault “violates all norms, laws, international conventions, and agreements, and seeks to undermine trust in the Palestinian banking and financial sector.”
