Reposted from Middle East Monitor, July 15, 2025
The Israeli army has reportedly stolen hundreds of donkeys from the besieged Gaza Strip, smuggled them to Israel, and transported them to Europe to prevent their use in the reconstruction of Gaza, Israeli Channel Kan reported.
According to Kan, the organized looting of dozens of donkeys from the Gaza Strip in coordination with Israeli organizations and the complicity of European institutions, most notably French and Belgian ones.
According to the report, Israeli soldiers have looted the donkeys from areas they invaded within the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of “rescuing them from sickness and neglect”.
Israeli media reported the looting as a “veterinary rescue operation,” neglecting to mention their Palestinian owners, who mainly relied on the animals as an essential means of transportation to escape Israeli genocidal attacks in Gaza.
Under international law, the forced confiscation of civilian property during an armed conflict is classified as a war crime.
The Kan report revealed that the donkeys collected from Gaza were transferred to an Israeli farm called “Starting Over Sanctuary” in Moshav Harot, south of Tel Aviv, run by Sharon Cohen.
The farm’s website presents the animals as victims of “psychological trauma”, claiming they need special treatment, without any contact with their original owners or any ownership documents proving the legality of the transfer.
Kan said on 18 May 2025, the first shipment of 58 donkeys left from Ben Gurion Airport to Liège Airport in Belgium, and then to animal shelters in France and Belgium. The shipment was coordinated by the Network for Animals organization, run by Gloria Davis and Shannon Edwards, and by the Israeli company Orien Cargo.
This article has been corrected. It originally contained a statement from The Middle East Monitor report that said the complicit shelters included La Tanière – Zoo Refuge. However, La Tanière has written to us explaining that this is erroneous, and we have removed the sentence. Following is the information from La Tanière:
Our shelter responded to a call for help from the Starting Over Sanctuary in January 2022 and welcomed several convoys of donkeys before the current conflict, between June 2022 and September 2023, as stated on our website (https://lataniere-zoorefuge.fr/la-taniere-repond-a-un-appel-international/).
Transfers and receptions have since ceased and the recent arrivals in France promoted on Starting Over’s social networks took place in collaboration with other French sheltersin Occitanie (https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/occitanie/pyrenees-orientales/perpignan/si-je-pouvais-sauver-un-seul-de-ces-animaux-je-serais-heureux-ce-refuge-attend-l-arrivee-d-anes-de-la-bande-de-gaza-3110407.html), in Brittany (https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/france/article/en-bretagne-ces-25-anes-de-gaza-ont-trouve-refuge-apres-un-long-periple_250447.html) or in recent days in Normandy (https://x.com/FBB_Officiel/status/1944755982879412690 ).
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