Israel's Kan Channel reported that the donkeys were transferred to a farm called "Starting Over Sanctuary" located in the Moshav Harot area south of Tel Aviv, and run by an Israeli association concerned with donkey welfare.
The association presents these animals as victims in need of special treatment, and insists that they will not be returned to Gaza. Instead, it is working to relocate some of them to shelters in France and Belgium, where more living space is available.
According to the report, these donkeys were an essential means of transportation for local residents under the severe siege, as they were used to transport sand and building materials, and later, after the recent war, to transport furniture and people.
The occupying army rounded up donkeys from the areas it invaded, claiming they were sick or neglected. The operation was presented in the media as a "veterinary rescue campaign," but observers view it as a forced confiscation of civilian property during an armed conflict, which could constitute a war crime under international law.
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In May 2025, the first batch of 58 donkeys was shipped from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel to Liège Airport in Belgium, and then transported to animal sanctuaries such as La Tanière – Zoo Refuge near Chartres, France, where the donkeys were presented as symbols of compassion and civility, with no reference to their origins or the rights of their Palestinian owners.
The move sparked angry reactions on social media, with activists arguing that the occupation had not only confiscated land and rights, but had also extended to confiscating all forms of life, including the primitive means of transportation that Palestinians rely on to cope with the repercussions of the siege and destruction.
