IDF shuts down last Palestinian bank laundering funds for terror groups

The IDF on Tuesday successfully busted the last exchange bank in the West Bank that was laundering money for terrorists.

“In a meticulously pre-planned operation, first, the undercover Duvdevan special forces, and later, IDF reservist units for the Binyamin Region, as well as border police, seized hundreds of thousands of terror funds and arrested a few individuals connected to those funds,” The Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Israeli military.

While the IDF’s operation on the Ramallah bank in the Judea region was successful, the incident left a significant number of Palestinians injured.

According to the Associated Press, “dozens of Palestinians were wounded” in the raid, when “people throwing stones scattered after gunfire and tear gas.”

Video footage of the incident showed young Palestinian men retaliating by throwing rocks, as well as throwing tear gas canisters back at the soldiers.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that a total of 58 people were injured in the raid.

Among the injured on Tuesday was a 13-year-old Palestinian who was shot in the abdomen. The local Ministry of Health said he underwent surgery following the attack

The IDF indicated that “wounds to non-violent or nearby uninvolved Palestinians from the tear gas were being probed,” according to the JPost.

This is not the first action the Israeli government has taken against Palestinian banks in recent months.

In June, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich cancelled a waiver that connected Israeli and Palestinian banks.

“In light of the Palestinian Authority’s campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel internationally, I have instructed Accountant General Yali Rothenberg to revoke the indemnity granted to correspondent banks operating with banks in Palestinian Authority territory,” Smotrich said at the time.