The humiliating daily life of Gazan workers in Israel

Israeli soldiers patrol near the fence between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip, December 7, 2021. AP - Tsafrir Abayov

Text by: Alice Froussard Follow

3 mins

Since 2021, Israel has been dribbling out permits for Palestinians from Gaza to work in Israel.

A move that was seen by many as an attempt to bolster the precarious calm between Israel and Hamas - especially after eleven days of a deadly war in May 2021 - by relieving economic pressure on the coastal enclave.

Others see it as a way for Israel to obtain cheap labor and further divide Palestinian society.

One thing is sure, for many workers, unable to feed their families, despite the humiliation and the long crossing, working in Israel is a necessity. 

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From our special correspondent in Gaza,

In 2022, Israel issued 17,000 permits for Gaza workers.

This is more than the total number of permits issued since the start of the blockade, but still a very small amount compared to the 500,000 work permits issued before 2007 and compared to the demands of

Because in this coastal enclave, the economic situation is disastrous: the unemployment rate is 44% and rises to 60% among young people.

Almost everyone therefore jumps at the chance to get out of Gaza.

And a job in Israel, even thankless, these workers confide, " 

 ".

Five to six times more than a job in the Gaza Strip. 

As for the profile of these workers, there is everything: construction, cleaning, agriculture, maintenance worker, factory.

Mainly manual work, physical and tiring. 

And not all of them cross at the same frequency.

There are those who work for example in Ashkelon or Sderot, the closest Israeli localities, who can make the trip every day.

There are those who cross this passage on a weekly basis: they leave on Sunday morning, return on Thursday. 

And then there are those who leave for the entire duration of their permit - between three and six months - who sleep at their place of work, often in the most rudimentary conditions: old warehouses, bungalows, where they can.

For the latter, it is above all a way of ensuring an income over a given period, because these workers are paid per day and thus fear unexpected closures of the checkpoint or do not want to take the risk of seeing their license withdrawn. 

A long crossing 

Gazan workers leave their homes at dawn - around 4 a.m. - to arrive as soon as possible at the Erez checkpoint, the only crossing point for the population between the Gaza Strip and Israel, in the very north of the coastal enclave.

They first arrive at a first checkpoint, that of Hamas, which verifies their identity.

They then head into the nearby canopy, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, where hundreds of workers wait for their names to be called over the loudspeaker to board a small bus.

The latter takes them to the last checkpoint, the one controlled by Israel. 

First there is a catwalk that looks like a cage, wire mesh, ubiquitous surveillance cameras and turnstiles made for one person where bags do not pass.

It's not really a problem for the workers: a sign specifies that they are not allowed to have anything with them, except a wallet, a telephone and a charger.

No toiletry bag, no change of clothes.

That Sunday morning, the queue was huge.

The workers were tight against each other, waiting to go inside the building for the famous passage where they will be searched, scanned.

Once out, sometimes several hours later, they can finally leave the checkpoint and take collective buses to their place of work.

And hope everything goes well: most work illegally and without insurance.

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