BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
For nearly a year, Hanadi Abu Zant has been unable to pay rent on her small apartment in the occupied West Bank after losing her permit to work inside Israel. When her landlord threatens eviction and calls the police, she sometimes seeks refuge in a nearby mosque, fearful that returning home could mean losing the roof over her children’s heads.
“My biggest fear is being kicked out of my home,” she said, wiping tears from her face. “Where will we sleep? On the street?”
Abu Zant is one of roughly 100,000 Palestinians whose work permits were revoked after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Since then, tens of thousands of Palestinian workers have been confined to the West Bank, where employment opportunities are scarce and wages are far lower than those earned in Israel. As the months pass, many families say their options are shrinking and becoming increasingly desperate.
Some households have sold furniture, appliances and jewelry to survive. Others have taken on heavy debt to cover basic needs such as food, electricity and school costs. A growing number have turned to the black market, paying steep fees to brokers for illegal permits, or have tried to enter Israel without authorization, risking arrest, imprisonment or violent encounters if they are suspected of militant activity.
Israel, which has occupied the West Bank for nearly six decades, says it is under no obligation to allow Palestinians to enter the country for work and that permit decisions are based on security considerations. At the same time, thousands of Palestinians continue to work in Jewish settlements scattered across the West Bank, communities built on land Palestinians seek for a future state.
The economic consequences of the permit revocations have been severe. The World Bank has warned that the West Bank economy is at risk of collapse under Israel’s restrictions. By the end of last year, unemployment in the territory had surged to nearly 30%, up sharply from about 12% before the war, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
Before the conflict, tens of thousands of Palestinians commuted daily into Israel, primarily to work in construction, manufacturing and service jobs. Those positions often paid more than double the wages available in the West Bank, a landlocked territory long constrained by checkpoints, land seizures and movement restrictions. Many Palestinians also fault the Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank, for failing to generate enough jobs or provide meaningful economic relief.
About 115,000 Palestinians had valid work permits before the war, most of which were revoked in its aftermath. Israel later reinstated a small fraction of those permits, estimated at around 8,000, according to human rights and Israeli officials. The majority, however, remain barred from returning to their former jobs.
The loss of those wages has rippled across the Palestinian economy. Earnings from Palestinian labor in Israel injected an estimated $4 billion into the economy in 2022, according to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. That sum amounted to roughly two-thirds of the Palestinian Authority’s annual budget, underscoring how deeply dependent the economy had become on cross-border employment.
Israeli officials say Palestinians do not have an inherent right to enter Israel and emphasize that permits are granted or revoked based on security assessments. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, territories Palestinians seek for an independent state. Today, around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank alongside more than 500,000 Israeli settlers, who move freely between settlements and Israel proper.
Since the war in Gaza began, the West Bank has seen a surge in violence, including Palestinian attacks on Israelis and increased assaults by settlers. Israeli military operations, which authorities say are aimed at dismantling militant networks, have caused widespread destruction in several cities and refugee camps, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Abu Zant’s situation reflects the human toll behind the statistics. After her husband left five years ago, she secured a job at a food-packing plant in Israel that paid about $1,400 a month, enough to support her four children. When the war began and her permit was revoked, she believed the ban would be temporary. To make ends meet, she began baking pastries for friends and neighbors, but the income barely covered daily expenses.
Others have turned to illegal work routes. Hasan Joma, who once ran a business in Tulkarem helping Palestinians find legal jobs in Israel, said brokers are now charging more than triple their prewar fees for permits. While no official figures exist, economists estimate that tens of thousands of Palestinians are currently working inside Israel without authorization.
Some risk their lives attempting to cross Israel’s separation barrier, a sprawling system of concrete walls, fences and restricted military roads that in places rises as high as nine meters. Shuhrat Barghouthi said her husband spent five months in prison after trying to climb the barrier to find work. Before the war, the couple earned a combined $5,700 a month working in Israel. Now they are unemployed and more than $14,000 in debt.
“Come and see my refrigerator,” Barghouthi said. “It’s empty. There’s nothing to feed my children.” She said she has not paid rent in two years and cannot afford heating in the winter. Her children frequently fall ill and often go to bed hungry. At times, she returns home to find their belongings thrown into the street by a landlord trying to evict them.
While most Palestinians are barred from Israel, many are still allowed to work in settlements. Of the roughly 48,000 Palestinians employed in settlements before the war, more than 65% have retained their permits, according to rights groups. Palestinians and much of the international community consider the settlements illegal under international law, a view Israel disputes.
Palestinian workers in settlements say conditions have worsened since the war. Speaking anonymously for fear of losing their jobs, several said employers have tightened security, scrutinized workers’ phones and dismissed employees with little explanation, knowing there is a long line of others desperate for work.
Israel has sought to replace Palestinian labor with foreign workers, but some employers say the transition has been costly and inefficient. Raphael Dadush, an Israeli real estate developer, said the permit crackdown has delayed projects and raised expenses. Palestinians once made up more than half his workforce. Although he has hired foreign laborers, he said the arrangement is not the same, noting that Palestinians often speak Hebrew and understand local work practices.
Dadush said he understands the government’s security concerns but believes a solution must be found to allow Palestinians to return to work safely. Labor advocates warn that without some level of economic integration, the situation will only deteriorate.
“There has to be a way for people to earn a living,” said Assaf Adiv, director of an Israeli organization advocating for Palestinian labor rights. “Without that, there will be chaos.”