Israel announced on Thursday June 16 to increase by 2,000 the number of entry permits to Israel granted to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, an impoverished enclave under blockade by the Jewish state for 15 years.
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“Defense minister decides to increase number of entries to Israel for Palestinians from Gaza by 2,000, bringing total to 14,000per day, said Cogat, a body of the Israeli Ministry of Defense that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories. These “Civil measures regarding the Gaza Strip depend on the maintenance of security and their extension will be assessed depending on the situation.“, according to the Cogat press release.
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Strict blockade on the Palestinian enclave
He specifies that these authorizations to enter Israel are intended for economic purposes and that they are in addition to the work permits already granted to 20,000 Gazans by decision of the Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz. At the end of March, the Israeli government increased the number of work permits granted to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from 12,000 to 20,000.
The Jewish state has imposed a strict blockade on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza since 2007, when the armed Islamist movement Hamas took power there.
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Apart from the Rafah crossing point, between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, Israel controls all entries and exits from the enclave, both goods and people. In Israel, most workers from Gaza are employed in construction and agriculture, where they receive much higher wages than in the war-torn Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million, with a poverty close to 60% and endemic unemployment hovering around 50%.
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