‘Armed robbery’: Israeli seizure of Palestinian prisoner funds condemned

Israel’s right-wing government on Friday was accused of stepping up its unprecedented campaign against Palestinian prisoners and their families in occupied Jerusalem.

Qadura Faris, chief of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, described the persecution as a “renewed catastrophe,” highlighting the Israeli confiscation of tens of thousands of dollars under the pretext of prisoners receiving undue funding from the Palestinian Authority.

Faris warned that the occupation had found “innovative ways” to expand its repression of Palestinians.

His remarks came as Palestinian sources confirmed that Israeli security authorities seized money from several Jerusalem convicts and their families on Thursday over fears that funding prisoners could incentivize violence ahead of Ramadan.

The sources said that Israeli authorities seized $33,370 from the bank account of liberated prisoner Iman Al-Aawar and her son, Mohammed.

Authorities also claimed $31,700 from the account of a mother of a freed prisoner, in addition to closing their bank accounts. The family was informed of the closure via a WhatsApp message.

The Israeli security forces also raided dozens of homes of prisoners and released prisoners in East Jerusalem, seizing money and valuables, and confiscating family bank accounts.

Sources said that the Israeli security forces stormed the homes of three Jerusalem prisoners, seized money, private property and jewelery, and vandalized the properties.

The targeting of prisoners and their families came after the Feb. 10 decision by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, supported by both right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to seize money from 87 prisoners and released prisoners in East Jerusalem.

Israel devised the policy of seizing funds from Jerusalem prisoners and ex-prisoners several years ago. The strategy is being vigorously implemented after the arrival of Yoav Galant, Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to the Israeli government in late December.

In January, the Israeli Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs ordered the deduction of about $39 million of Palestinian Authority funds in order to allocate the money to Israeli victims of terrorism.

The Israeli Ministerial Committee also ordered the offsetting of welfare payments made by the Palestinian governments to prisoners in Israeli jails and the families of those killed by Israeli forces in 2022.

Galant, meanwhile, signed an order on Jan. 26 to seize $148,000 and a vehicle belonging to the families of released prisoners Karim and Maher Younis from the town of Ar’ara in the Northern Triangle, within Israel.

They had spent 40 years in Israeli prisons.

Israeli sources claimed that the money and the vehicle were obtained from stipends allotted to the prisoners by the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian prisoners and their families are persecuted, harassed and routinely intimidated by Israeli authorities, who resent that the PA pays stipends to support families of the imprisoned, sources said.

The grant is similar to a social security payment, but Israel views it as an incitement for Palestinians to conduct attacks against Israel.

Ahmed Guneim, Fatah’s prominent leader in East Jerusalem, told Arab News that targeting prisoners’ money and property is a “catastrophic failure” of the Israeli government, which promised its people security.

Guneim added that extremist ministers were now resorting to “retaliatory measures” by “sending armed gangs to rob the homes of Jerusalemites, stealing their money, jewelry and property, and closing their bank accounts.”

He said: “This is an armed robbery. What is their evidence that the confiscated money, vehicles and jewelery belong to the prisoner personally?”

Guneim added that the repressive Israeli measures were a factor in rising tensions in East Jerusalem.
Israeli political analyst Yoni Ben Menachem told Arab News that Galant would target 300 Palestinian prisoners from East Jerusalem, up from the previous 87.

“The decision of the Israeli defense minister aims to combat Palestinian violence, because there is a belief among the Israeli security services that this money can be used to incite the Palestinians in East Jerusalem to launch an uprising to coincide with the beginning of Ramadan,” Ben Menachem told Arab News.