Hamas-imposed monthly fee for work permits to Israel sparks fury

Deep resentment among Palestinians at bureaucratic changes brought in by Hamas is the latest manifestation of division within the community

Tensions between Palestinians employed in Israel and the Hamas authorities of the Gaza Strip are rising due to widespread anger at changes to work permits.
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Tensions between Palestinians employed in Israel and the Hamas authorities of the Gaza Strip are rising due to widespread anger at changes to work permits.

Hamas-imposed monthly fee for work permits to Israel sparks fury

Tensions between Palestinians employed in Israel and the Hamas authorities of the Gaza Strip are rising due to widespread anger at changes to work permits.

The discord adds to the internal unease in the Palestinian community, dating back to 2007. New costs will also be levied on an already hard-pressed workforce trying to recover from years of suffering and complications.

This added financial and bureaucratic burden has provoked fury. It means staff must provide proof of their qualifications and pay around $160 monthly to agencies running the permit system under a licence from Gaza’s Ministry of Labour.

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Palestinian workers wearing masks against Covid-19 lineup for a security check at the entrance to Israel's Mishor Adumim industrial zone near the Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank east of Jerusalem, on July 1, 2020.

“Why must a worker visit professional centres in Gaza, make monetary contributions, and obtain membership documentation for submission to the Ministry?”, asked Ziyad, a 47-year-old jobseeker from the strip, who used to work in Israel.

“And after all this, are we still obliged to pay the company?” he said, adding:

“To our knowledge, there is no coordination with Gaza and no currency exchange or transfer. They demand professional certificates from us. Where are we supposed to procure them?”

Spike in permits

The overhaul comes after a dramatic rise in the number of permits. The ministry has issued 18,500, sharply higher than recent numbers. Between 2018 and 2019, the number of traders’ permits, which were more general, was 5,000.

But with officials expecting around 140,000 Gazans to look for work in Israel, it has appointed state-run agencies to issue them with a controversial monthly fee.

While that means workers will have been matched with jobs before permits are needed, there is resentment at the cost and many jobseekers resent the changes.

Many still have fundamental objections to the system and would rather see an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza that restricts entry.

Permits were first introduced for security reasons. Trader permits allowed Palestinians entry into Israel without being tied to a specific job. They became the tighter and more specific work permits now at the centre of the latest discord.

But the system is seen among Gazans as more of a means of control over them than a security matter. Discontent at how the territory’s Hamas leadership is running it shows the deepening divisions in the community since the blockade.

Massive unemployment

Regarding the economic impact, around 340,000 Gazans were thought to be looking for work, with an unemployment rate estimated at 47%, according to data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for the year 2022.

Sameer Abu Mdallaleh, an expert on Gaza’s economy, blames the blockade and the internal Palestinian divisions for these stark numbers. And he warns that people taking jobs in Israel will not help the Palestinian economy recover or develop.

Around 340,000 Gazans were thought to be looking for work, with an unemployment rate estimated at 47%, according to data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for the year 2022.

The history of the bureaucracy faced by Palestinian workers crossing the Green Line that separates Israel from the occupied Gaza is complex and the extent of restrictions has varied.

In the late 1960s, Israel allowed Palestinians access to all the lands they lost in 1948, to work in construction and agriculture, amid global concern about the collapse in standards of living on the Occupied Territories.

The number of workers crossing the Green Line fell from 1987 after the first Intifada, or uprising, among the Palestinians. As relations improved in the 1990s, the number rose back, reaching around 200,000 in 1999.

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And then in 2000, the second Intifada meant Israel sealed Gaza's crossings, cancelling work permits of all kinds and turning the Green Line back into a frontier. By 2002 and until 2006, Traders' Permits were back in use, including by some workers with more specific jobs.

After Hamas won elections in 2006, another blockade was imposed and Israel brought back Work Permits. It leaves the people of the Occupied Territories accustomed to change. But this latest overhaul feels new to those who it most directly effects.

Uncertainty ahead

As the jobseeker Ziyad puts it: "We have been working there our whole lives, and no one has ever requested those professional certificates they are talking about," adding:

"What matters is that the worker is proficient and competent in their role. There has never been any insistence on possessing a certificate that can be acquired with monetary means solely for the sake of securing a work permit.

We have been working there our whole lives, and no one has ever requested those professional certificates they are talking about. What matters is that the worker is proficient and competent in their role.

Ziyad, a 47-year-old jobseeker who used to work in Israel

Meanwhile, Israel has said it will not approve the use of intermediaries to issue the permits, adding a layer of uncertainty.

Nonetheless, Gaza's Ministry of Labour and its Ministry of Economic Affairs insist the changes will go ahead and have granted licenses to 16 employment companies.

It leaves the Palestinian people facing uncertainty and unease as they look for ways to make a living in already challenging economic times.

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