GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Gaza Media Office said Saturday that the Israeli army looted money and gold artifacts from the Gaza Strip, amounting to approximately $25 million since Oct. 7.

It said it observed “dozens of testimonies provided by residents of the Gaza Strip regarding the theft of money, gold, and artifacts estimated at 90 million shekels ($24.5 million) over the past 92 days by the Israeli occupation army.”

“Theft operations occurred in various ways, the first of which was at the checkpoints, such as Salah al-Din Street, where they stole from the displaced people who had moved from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, their bags containing their valuable possessions such as money, gold, and artifacts,” said the Office.​​​​​​​

The Media Office said another method involved “burglaries of homes whose residents were asked to evacuate, where they (Israeli army) took souvenir photos and video clips for this crime, some of which were posted on their social media accounts, as happened in the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.”

It pointed out that Israeli newspapers documented the crime, with the Yedioth Ahronoth describing it as a “systematic theft of the money of the Gazans.”

There has been no comment as of yet from Israeli authorities on the accusations.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala