Yellen says travel restrictions on West Bank Palestinians not in Israel’s interest

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen criticizes Israel for withholding work permits and blocking travel by Palestinians from the West Bank, saying the measures hurt both sides and risked tipping off a broader regional conflict.

“We don’t want to see an extension of conflict into other parts,” Yellen tells Reuters in an interview. “Israel is a friend and we talk to them regularly. If we see something that worries us, we tell our partners what we think of that.”

On Tuesday she told reporters she had written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express her concerns and to welcome Israel’s agreement to resume tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority.

Yellen says Israel’s travel and commerce restrictions are hitting the Palestinian economy hard and halting a number of construction projects in Israel by creating a worker shortage.

“My understanding is there are construction sites that have had to shut down because they have insufficient labor, so it’s not good for Israel’s economy, or the West Bank’s economy,” she says in the interview. “I don’t think any of this is in Israel’s interest.”

Since Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, Israel has barred the majority of the roughly 150,000 Palestinians who have permits to work inside Israel and its settlements from returning to their jobs due to security concerns.