Israeli soldiers have reportedly confiscated hundreds of donkeys from the Gaza Strip and transported them to Israel and eventually to France, in what public broadcaster Kan described as a “rescue” operation.
Critics are calling it an organized looting campaign, carried out under military occupation and with the complicity of Israeli organizations and European institutions.
According to the Kan report, the animals were taken from areas in Gaza invaded by Israeli forces, under the guise of saving the donkeys from sickness and neglect. Framed in Israeli media as a veterinary mission, the reports fail to acknowledge the donkeys’ crucial role for Palestinians under siege.
In a region where Israel’s bombardment left roads in ruins, fuel scarce, and vehicles destroyed, donkeys have become an essential mode of transportation for Palestinians.
The Guardian reported in May that animals like donkeys have been used daily to carry injured civilians, pregnant women, and basic supplies across rubble-strewn streets.
Saif Alden, whose mobile clinic treating injured donkeys in Gaza was destroyed in an airstrike, emphasized the animals’ indispensable role, describing them as “lifelines for many families.”
The seized donkeys were reportedly transferred to the “Starting Over Sanctuary,” an Israeli animal rescue farm in Moshav Herut, near Tel Aviv. From there, dozens of the animals were flown from Ben Gurion Airport to France via Belgium, in coordination with the NGO Network for Animals and the logistics company Orien Cargo.
The lack of any attempt to trace or return the animals to their owners raised alarms under international law, where the seizure of civilian property in occupied territory is considered a war crime.
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