Israel sends hundreds of Gazan laborers held since Oct. 7 back into Strip
Israel was slowly increasing number of Gazans with work permits in recent months, a strategy shattered by the Hamas massacres
Israel on Friday sent hundreds of Palestinian workers from Gaza back to the Strip, after detaining them since Hamas launched its terror offensive on the country on October 7.
The workers were dropped off by buses near Gaza and walked into the southern edge of the enclave through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
The workers were among what Israeli rights groups believe are thousands of laborers marooned in Israel since the outbreak of the war.
The rights groups say the workers have had their work permits revoked and any trace of their status wiped from their records, leaving them vulnerable and in legal limbo.
Some of those walking into Gaza said they were held at Ofer, an Israeli-run detention center in the West Bank.
One of those released, Mohammed Shalaya, said treatment was bad during the first five to six days but that conditions then improved.
Shalaya said he had worked at a quarry in northern Israel. He said he and the other workers were forced to hand over their money, cellphones and identity cards after being detained and didn’t get their possessions back before being dropped off near Gaza.
They were some of the 18,500 Gaza Palestinians who had visas to work in Israel, but whose right to do so was rescinded three days after the Hamas attack.
On that day, thousands of terrorists streamed across the border and attacked communities, killing more than 1,400 people and abducting at least 240 hostages. Most of those slain were civilians tortured and slaughtered in their homes and at a music festival.
In response Israel launched a war against Hamas, pledging to eradicate the terror organization that rules Gaza, and began a blistering bombardment of terror targets in the territory.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza says 9,227 people have been killed in Israel’s bombardment, most of them civilians. The numbers cannot be independently verified, and some Israeli officials have expressed doubts regarding their veracity. They also do not differentiate between terror operatives and civilians.
The UN and other international actors have accused Israel of not doing enough to protect civilians from harm, while it insists it is making an effort to avoid harming civilians while fighting terrorists hiding behind the civilian population.
On Friday, some of the Palestinian workers being sent back there said they did not know if their families were alive or if their houses still stand.
“I was in a detention center with hundreds of other prisoners,” Ramadan al-Issawi told AFP in a shaking voice. “We told ourselves that we could die at any moment.”
“They gave us just enough to eat and drink to survive, but we knew nothing about what was going on outside,” Issawi said.
Israel had been slowly increasing the number of Gazans with work permits in recent months as it hoped to provide economic incentives for residents of the Strip to maintain the peace. This strategy was shattered by the October 7 attacks. On Thursday Israel’s security cabinet said in a statement: “There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza.”
Some of those reentering the Strip on Friday alleged to AFP they had been tortured. The news agency did not provide a response from Israel to those claims, nor was it clear it had sought one.
