WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank have lost their jobs or had their salaries frozen after the Zionist regime authorities cancelled their work permits and imposed severe restrictions on crossings after the October 7 operation.
Approximately 182,000 Gaza residents who work in the Israeli-occupied territories and the settlements had their employment terminated, initial estimates by the International Labour Organization (ILO) suggest, while about 24% of employment in the West Bank has also been lost – equivalent to 208,000 jobs – as a result of the Israeli war, The Guardian reported.
According to the ILO, a further 160,000 workers from the West Bank have either lost their jobs in Israel and the settlements, at least temporarily, or are at risk of losing them “as a result of restrictions imposed on Palestinians’ access to the Israeli labor market and the closures of crossings from the West Bank into Israel and the settlements”.
Alaa Mousa from Ramallah in the West Bank had been saving up for 12 years to build his family a house and was finally making it happen. During his long and tedious daily journey, passing through several checkpoints to travel to his job in the occupied territories, the father of two would daydream about how the ground floor would look when completed. But for more than 40 days, all work on his house has come to a halt.
“I need to pay monthly installments [amounting to] $3,000 to complete this house. I made enough working in Israel, but now my debts are piling, my family is hungry and I have no clue when this is going to end,” said the 35-year-old builder.
“The bank deducted $3,000 from my account last month, but I only managed to earn $1,000 from a side job. Instead of keeping that money to cover my kids’ needs, I deposited it in the bank to pay off some of this month’s installments. Soon, my next installment will be due, and the situation isn’t abating,” said Mousa, who now fears being legally persecuted.
Hani Mousa, an assistant political science professor at Birzeit University in the West Bank, said this is part of “Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians, which also extended to employees in the Palestinian Authority (PA), whose salaries were not paid because Israel did not transfer the money needed”.