Middle East Monitor / July 18, 2022
Israel has revoked its decision to increase the number of work permits issued to Palestinians in Gaza by 1,500, after it hit the besieged territory with a barrage of missiles on Saturday, The Times of Israel has reported. The occupations state’s military liaison to the Palestinians, known as COGAT, announced last week that the current allotment of 14,000 permits would be increased up to 15,500.
“Following evaluation of the security situation this evening [Saturday], Defence Minister Benny Gantz decided to suspend his decision from last week to raise the quota of entry permits granted to Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip for purposes of work and commerce,” explained COGAT. “The decision was made in the wake of rocket fire directed at the State of Israel.”
The statement made no mention of the fact that fire from Gaza is in response to the root cause of the conflict in occupied Palestine: Israel’s brutal military occupation.
Following heavy bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation army claimed that it had struck two sites allegedly used by Hamas to produce weapons.
Some 2.3 million Palestinians live in the narrow Gaza Strip. They are largely unable to leave to seek employment abroad, and have been squeezed by 15 years of a siege imposed by Israel. Moreover. the occupation state has launched four major military offensives against the largely civilian population since 2008. Gaza also borders Egypt, which imposes its own restrictions on passage through the Rafah crossing.
Before the Aqsa Intifada (Uprising) started in 2000, around 130,000 Palestinians from Gaza worked in Israel. When Israel withdrew its illegal settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005, most labourers were banned from crossing into the occupation state to look for work.
