The Bank of Palestine, which operates in the Gaza Strip and is one of the main sources of money for the Palestinian population, indicates that armed groups stole around 29 million euros in a single robbery on April 17, according to bank documents to which Le Monde newspaper had access.
According to the same source, a day later, a group of men identifying themselves as “the highest authority in the Gaza Strip”, a term used to refer to Hamas, stole around 33.6 million euros.
At the same time, and allegedly to prevent the money from getting “into the hands” of Hamas, the Israeli army seized a large sum belonging to the bank in the enclave, with the entity’s officials awaiting the conclusion of a lengthy Israeli administrative process for the funds to be returned. According to the Israeli press, the sum confiscated amounts to tens of millions of euros.
There are currently only two operational ATMs, both in the south, in Rafah and Deir al Bala. The entity continues to operate due to a discreet banknote transfer operation in November 2023, taking advantage of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, worth around 45 million euros in Israeli shekels, although tens of millions of euros remained in other areas.
On April 22, the Palestinian Monetary Authority lamented that “repeated attacks on bank branches and ATMs threaten the activity of these branches and their ability to pay salaries to employees and disburse funds to owners.
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