Palestinians speak with Israeli soldiers to evacuate an elderly woman who suffered from suffocation due to tear gas they fired during a raid on Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank on August 26, 2025. The Israeli army raided the West Bank city of Ramallah on August 26, leaving 14 people wounded as troops fanned out across the city centre, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Israeli security forces have seized approximately 1.5 million shekels ($447,000) in what they described as “terror funds” during a raid on a currency exchange in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank.
The operation, which took place on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, left at least 14 Palestinians injured after Israeli troops fired tear gas across the city center, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Images showed soldiers confronting residents while helping to evacuate an elderly woman who suffered suffocation from the gas.
Israeli police confirmed on Wednesday that border police and military units “raided a money exchange business in the heart of Ramallah that was being used to transfer funds to the Hamas terror organisation.” The forces reportedly confiscated cash in multiple currencies, including U.S. dollars, Jordanian dinars, and euros.
At least nine suspects accused of aiding Hamas were arrested during the operation and are now under investigation.
Raids are common across the West Bank, but incursions into central Ramallah — the seat of the Palestinian Authority — remain relatively rare. The action underscores growing tensions in the territory as the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack, continues.
Since the start of the conflict, Israeli operations in the West Bank have intensified, often targeting financial networks allegedly linked to militant groups. Similar raids earlier this year also focused on currency exchanges.
According to figures compiled by AFP from the Palestinian Authority, at least 972 Palestinians — both civilians and militants — have been killed in the West Bank since the war began. In the same period, Israeli reports state that 36 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in attacks and military operations in the area.
