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News :: Globalization |
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[antiSemitic Hate Speech Deleted] occupation troops openly rob four Palestinian banks - steal large amounts of cash |
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by Cipha AKA DAN "False Flag Action in Support of Hate" Disinfo
(No verified email address) |
26 Feb 2004
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http://www.iap.org/index2.html
Zionist occupation troops openly rob four Palestinian banks - seize large amounts of cash |
Israeli security forces seized large amounts of cash from four Palestinian bank branches today, saying much of the money was sent by Iran, Syria and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas to fund Palestinian militants.
During the raids, dozens of Palestinians threw stones at soldiers who clamped a curfew on Ramallah during the raids. Seventeen Palestinians were injured by rubber bullets and live rounds, three of them in critical condition, doctors said.
The joint operation by police, army and the Shin Bet security service marked Israel’s largest-scale effort in more than three years of fighting to stop the flow of funds to Palestinian militant groups, including from Hezbollah, Israeli officials said.
Troops were accompanied by computer experts from two of the banks, who had been arrested overnight, Palestinian officials said. Soldiers covered the banks’ cameras with sacks or disabled them, and confined employees to back rooms, witnesses said. Customers were allowed to leave after ID checks.
“The purpose of this operation is to impair the funnelling of funds, which oil the wheels of terror against Israel,” an Israeli army statement said.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the raids were unjustified.
“This is destructive to the Palestinian economy and people are really worried,” Erekat said. He said he fears Palestinians will lose confidence in their banking system and there would be a run on the banks.
Israeli forces checked several hundred bank accounts, some belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, security sources said. An Israeli official said the forces were also looking for evidence of possible involvement by Yasser Arafat in funding terror attacks.
The forces took millions of shekels in cash from the bank vaults, corresponding to the amount of money they found in the targeted accounts, security sources said. Much of the funding came from Hezbollah, Iran and Syria, the sources said.
Security sources said the seized money would be used to fund Palestinian humanitarian projects.
The raids came a day after Palestinian security officials confirmed that Hezbollah helped fund the last two Jerusalem bus bombings in which 18 Israelis and a foreign worker were killed.
In the bank raids, troops driving jeeps, armoured personnel carriers and trucks blocked off main roads in Ramallah and declared a curfew. Shopowners were ordered to close their businesses, and residents and journalists were ordered indoors, some at gunpoint.
Soldiers fired tear gas, metal-core rubber bullets and also live rounds to disperse dozens of stone throwers, hospital officials said. Seventeen stone throwers were injured, 16 by rubber bullets and one by live fire, the officials said.
Troops raided two branches of the Arab Bank, as well as the offices of the Cairo Amman Bank and the International Palestine Bank, Palestinian security officials said. Soldiers also took over several other buildings, witnesses said.
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