Israel's treatment of Palestinian workers denounced at UN meeting

The head of the International Labor Organization on Thursday criticized the decimation of Palestinian workers' labor rights since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and called for an end to new restrictions blocking them from working in Israel.

Israel's treatment of Palestinian workers, under scrutiny for decades by the UN labor body, has increased since the Oct. 7 war with criticism focused on more than half a million job losses and Israel's exclusion of some 200,000 Palestinians from Israel for security reasons.

"This has been the hardest year for Palestinian workers since 1967," ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo told the Geneva meeting, referring to the date of the war when Israel seized the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt.

Labor rights had been "decimated," he said in a speech presenting an ILO report on Palestinian working conditions, while asking Israel to reopen its labor market.

His call was echoed by Palestine's Minister of Labor, many diplomats from countries including Egypt and workers' groups. One became emotional describing conditions in Gaza where more than 36,000 people have been killed in Israel's military operation, according to Gaza health authorities.



Reuters