Israeli forces have granted permission to around 10,000 Palestinians to work in West Bank settlements at the request of settler leaders, but they remain banned from entering Israel. The decision is supported by the far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who, contrary to the Defense Ministry's positive assessment, strongly oppose Palestinians' entry into the Jewish state after the outbreak of war.
“This is pure hypocrisy,” security sources commented to Haaretz. “Chairman of the local council
The West Bank and these ministers refuse entry
These workers in Israel said this would be a problem
I'm putting civilians in danger, but they're the first to ask why he's coming
allowed them to return to work in the settlements.” Before the war that resulted from the October 7 Hamas attack, 160,000 Palestinian workers entered Israel daily and another 40,000 worked in neighboring settlements and factories. Since then, the security cabinet has blocked them and prevented them from working, except for 5,000 of them who carry out essential work in Israel or in West Bank settlements.