'Israel' suffocates Palestinian families, unemployment skyrockets

By Al Mayadeen English
1 May 2024 15:44
1 Shares

The Palestinian Federation of Trade Unions says 235,000 Palestinian workers in the '48 occupied territories have been unable to work for over six months due to the Israeli punitive measures barring their entry.

Palestinian workers passing through Israeli occupation's Tarqumiyah military checkpoint near al-Faluja in southern occupied Palestine, on November 14, 2019. (AFP)

On International Workers' Day, Israeli occupation police detained dozens of workers from the occupied West Bank, and led them to the city of al-Lydd.

The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions stated that 5,100 detentions were recorded in 2023 among workers (including released and detained workers) from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

They were detained from their workplaces in the occupied Palestinian territories of 1948, from shelters in the West Bank, or while attempting to return to besieged Gaza.

One worker was killed by the IOF after being thrown off a building's roof earlier this week, after he was detained and brutally assaulted while on his way to work. Additionally, a worker from Qalqilya was killed while detained in Hadarim Prison, and another from Gaza was killed in a shelter center in the Areeha governorate.

The Federation further highlighted that over 235,000 Palestinian workers in the '48 occupied territories have been unable to work for more than six consecutive months due to the Israeli occupation's punitive measures barring their entry and access to workplaces.

It highlighted that over 100,000 Palestinian workers have lost their jobs in the Palestinian labor market due to declining economic and living conditions, with monthly losses for workers totaling over $361,000 (1,350 million shekels).

Tools and identifiers inapplicable in Gaza

In an earlier statement, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) reported that the unemployment rate in Gaza soared to 75% by the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. This increase was attributed to the devastating and ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Strip launched last October.

This latest figure marks a sharp rise from 46% in the third quarter leading up to October 7.

According to a PCBS, unemployment rates in the West Bank during the fourth quarter of 2023 increased from 13% to 32% compared to the third quarter of the previous year.

In the occupied West Bank, the number of unemployed rose to 317,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to around 129,000 in the third quarter. The number of workers decreased from 868,000 workers to 665,000 workers – a 23% decline – during that period.

Similarly, the number of workers from the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territories of 1948 significantly decreased between the third and fourth quarters of 2023 by around 130,000 workers, due to the strict closures imposed by the occupation forces following the war.