Israel has allowed Palestinian laborers from the West Bank to return to Israel to work
According to the decision of the IDF Command, between 8,000 and 10,000 Palestinian laborers from the West Bank will return to work in Israeli West Bank settlements and businesses in the coming days. A request from an Israeli employer to allow Palestinians to return to work in the settlements was accepted by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday, despite stricter security conditions than before 7 October, Hebrew** reported.
Some 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, some 240 were taken hostage, and thousands of *** poured into southern Israel from Gaza, leaving 150,000 Palestinians in the West Bank mostly unable to enter Israel or Israeli settlements to work.
Previously, before the war began, about 150,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and an additional 17,000 from the Gaza Strip had legal permits to enter Israel to work.
Thousands of Palestinians have reportedly been allowed to return to work in Israeli-owned West Bank industrial sites in recent weeks, although those working in Jewish settlements have not yet been allowed to return.
For Palestinians from the West Bank, return to work will only be granted if the employer's workplace has adequate safety conditions, according to Israel's Kan News.
These workers are only allowed to move freely in designated areas of the workplace, and employers must ensure that every seven workers are equipped with an armed security guard, at the employer's own expense, not **.
Although Minister Itamar Benjivir issued an open letter on Wednesday afternoon asking for adviser Zaki Haneji to reverse the decision, it is unknown whether it will affect the decision.
My position on this issue is well known – the introduction into Israel of Palestinian workers from the Palestinian Authority, which supports terrorism, endangers the lives of the country's citizens and opens the door to a repeat of the events of October 7," the far-right minister said. "The blood of the inhabitants of the West Bank is as red as the blood of other citizens of Israel. ”
Although Palestinians in the West Bank will be able to work for Israeli employers, it is unclear when it will be extended to those working within the Green Line, as this decision can only be approved by **.
In early December, the Security Cabinet discussed a proposal to allow Palestinians in the West Bank to work within Israel, but Netanyahu reportedly did not bring the issue to a vote due to disagreements among Security Cabinet ministers.
At a meeting of 15 socio-economic committees on 11 December, 13 ministers voted against allowing Palestinian labourers to return, while Agriculture Minister Avi Dichtl and Labour Minister Yoaf bin Zir abstained. Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich spoke out at the same meeting against allowing Palestinians to return to work in the West Bank, calling such a decision "discriminatory" to settlers.
President of the Red Cross: The conflict in Gaza is a "moral failure" and there should be an immediate ceasefire.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, said in an interview with reporters that the conflict in Gaza was a "moral failure" and urged a ceasefire to end the fighting.
"I've been talking about a moral failure, because the continuation of each day means that the international community fails to prove that it is capable of ending such a high level of suffering, which will have an impact on Gaza, not only for the present time, but for future generations," Spoljaarich told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland. ”
She said that nothing could go unless the two parties reached an agreement. The ICRC therefore urges both parties to continue negotiations to create conditions for the implementation of the release (hostages and detainees).
Spoljaric has received huge criticism in Israel for failing to pressure Hamas enough to allow the Red Cross to visit hostages still in Gaza. She claimed that public pressure on Hamas did not work, but criticized Israel several times during the war.
Earlier, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spolliarić Eger, refused to take a photo with the hostages' families during a high-tension meeting with them in Tel Aviv