Up to thousands affected
Israel cuts money from Gaza and sends workers back
November 3, 2023, 4:03 a.m
Until the major Hamas attack, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are allowed to work in Israel. Hundreds, if not thousands, who have been there since October 7th now have to go back. Israel is also turning off the money supply.
The Israeli government wants workers from the Gaza Strip who have been stuck in Israel since the beginning of the Gaza War to be sent back to the sealed off area. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the security cabinet decided that no Palestinians from there should be allowed to come to Israel to work. In addition, all funds intended for the Gaza Strip should be deducted from payments to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
According to media reports, the amount withheld amounts to the equivalent of almost 24 million euros. Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced earlier this week that he would temporarily freeze payments to the PA for allegedly supporting the October 7 attack by Islamist terrorists. Smotrich justified his demand, among other things, with statements from representatives of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, who described Hamas’ terrorist act as part of the “armed resistance” against the Israeli occupation.
Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant, however, criticized the withholding of funds because the PA also needed the money to prevent terrorism. According to Israeli media reports, the USA had also put pressure on the PA not to cut off its money. Israel collects taxes and customs duties in the occupied West Bank on behalf of the PA and passes on part of these revenues to the authority. Most recently, around $160 million a month was passed on to the authorities in Ramallah.
Workers in Israel may have helped Hamas
Before the major attack on Israel, it was also common for thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to enter Israel with special permits and to work there. Many worked in agriculture or construction. Israel wanted to use these economic incentives to offer a way out of poverty in the Gaza Strip, reduce the number of Islamists ruling there and thus create more security in the region. Around half of the 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip are unemployed. According to the Israeli Civil Affairs Authority in the Occupied Territories, around 18,500 people from the Gaza Strip have permits to work in Israel.
According to media reports, hundreds or even several thousand workers are affected by the repatriation. According to Israeli media reports, some of them are now in the West Bank. Many are also being held at an army base. It is unclear how people will return to the Gaza Strip. Observers say some of the Gaza Strip workers may have provided information to Hamas, helping to facilitate its massacres in Israeli border towns.