One of them turned into a juice seller, another to a Qatif seller, and a third to a pickled seller, and a fourth tour of his car, showing some vegetables and fifth selling coffee and sixth that sells sweets .. etc., and between the seller and the other short distances less than dozens of meters sometimes, in an effort to provide a minimum money in which their families are dependent after a long interruption of a job that they used to have many years.
This is the case of Palestinian workers in the West Bank who were working inside Israel, and prevented from returning to their workplaces in light of the continued war of extermination on the Gaza Strip, which started on October 7, 2023.
Omar, 33, who works a pickles seller, says that he was working for a 48 -Palestinian contractor, and he receives a wage of at least 400 shekels per day (about 110 dollars), but today without income and barely achieved profits not exceeding $ 15 by offering his goods before breakfast.
He added: “As you see the sellers many, the competition is great, and everyone wants to sell with the least profit in order to provide the livelihood of his children,” noting that he did not receive any financial support from any party throughout his disruption from his knowledge.
He continued: “On the other hand, I rely on the free intermittent work according to the available, but the circumstances are compelling and Ramadan is expensive.”
Ratzing adventure
Aswa in thousands of others, Mahmoud Al -Hajj (45 years) has been working in the construction sector inside Israel for nearly 20 years, until the expulsion of Palestinian workers from their workplaces, and he was earning a month for at least 7,000 shekels (about 1,800 dollars), but since October 7, 2023 he was unable to return to his workplace.
On how to manage his affairs, he says that he depends on buying his needs on a nearby grocery, so the debt accumulated on him in a way that does not exceed the ability of the grocery owner to possibly, which forced him to adventure again to work in Israel by climbing the separation wall.
As for most of his family’s breakfast, he says that he depends on local dishes such as grape leaves stored from spring, flower and cabbage produced locally, beans and sometimes chicken.
The Palestinian worker indicates that the high prices of meat are offset by a significant decrease in vegetable prices, “but people are empty and have no money.”
507 unemployed
According to data for the General Union of Palestine Trade Unions, it was published, in late February, approximately 507,000 unemployed workers today, including about 200,000, were working inside Israel, noting that the losses of Palestinian workers since the beginning of the war are estimated at 6 billion dollars.
56 Palestinian workers were martyred during 2024 while trying to reach or return from their workplaces, according to the union, which confirms that the number of workers detained since the beginning of this year is the barrier of 600 workers, where workers are arrested by the raids of the occupation forces to their workplaces and abuse them in detention centers, and imposing heavy fines on them, and employers.
Incident salaries
In parallel with the state of dengue experienced by the workers, for the second year in a row, the financial crisis of the Palestinian Authority continues to cast a shadow over the government’s obligations towards its employees. On March 5, the government spent 70% of the salaries of its employees for the month of January, which threw its shadow to receive Palestinian employees for the blessed month of Ramadan.
According to Muhammad Al -Naji (teacher), the government is a city for employees with a salary for several months, as it pays incomplete salaries for several years, which negatively affected the employee sector even if the minimum currently paid covers most of the employees.
He said that the impact of the percentage of 70% of the salary or minimum, which is 3,500, is almost not appeared to accumulate debt and bank installments on most employees.
He stated that the circumstances of the employees in Ramadan this year are not less than their circumstances in the last Ramadan, although it is better to stop the aggression on Gaza.
He continued that the minimum needs of an average family of food in Ramadan is not less than a thousand dollars, and this is an amount that most government employees do not receive, in addition to the costs resulting from visiting the wombs, clothing of the feast, and others.
A security response
In conjunction with the deteriorating economic situation, Palestinians live in difficult security conditions, especially with the almost daily incursions of cities, villages, and camps, which are interspersed with gunfire and gas bombs, and often anticipated breakfast time and results in injuries.
In the northern West Bank, the occupation continues to exterminate the Palestinian refugee camps, as it expanded its military operations in the West Bank in conjunction with the start of its aggression against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, including incursions, prosecution, arrest and destruction, while the settlers went up to their attacks against the Palestinians and their properties.
The Israeli campaign has intensified since January 21, with the displacement of nearly 40,000 Palestinians from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps in the north of the West Bank, amid difficult humanitarian conditions.
