Before the conflict began, the Israeli nation had issued work permits to around 18,500 Gazans, who are now being returned to the region.
Brendan Smialowski/AFPIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a statement amid fighting with Palestinian group Hamas
The government of Israel announced on the night of this Thursday, the 2nd, that it would send all workers back Gaza on Palestinian territory, almost four weeks after the start of the war against Hamas following an attack by the Islamist movement. “Israel breaks off all contacts with Gaza. There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza,” the Israel Security Office said in a statement. “These Gaza workers who were in Israel on the day the war began will be returned to Gaza,” the office added, without specifying how many people would be affected by the decision.
Before the conflict began on October 7, Israel had issued work permits to about 18,500 Gazans, according to Cogat, the Israeli defense agency responsible for Palestinian civil affairs. Cogat did not immediately respond to a question about the number of Gaza workers who were on Israeli territory at the time of the Hamas attack, which Israeli officials said killed at least 1,400 people. According to the Hamascontrolled Health Ministry, Israel responded with incessant bombardments in the Gaza Strip, accompanied by a ground attack by its troops, killing more than 9,000 people.
*With information from the AFP agency