OPT: Gaza's workers in Israel and West Bank targeted for arrests, beatings and expulsion, according to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs
Since October 7, Israel has been holding an unknown number of Gazan laborers in West Bank military facilities. Some 200,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip usually work in the Israeli economy, meaning within Israel's 1948 boundaries or at illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Gazans’ detention does not legally amount to an arrest, and the detainees have not been allowed to seek legal representation. Several Israeli NGOs stated that the measure was an act of vengeance, forbidden during hostilities according to international law and called on the defense minister to respect their right to due process. Earlier reports from news agencies and Palestinian NGOs documented arrests and beatings by the IDF of Gaza's workers in Israel and their expulsion to the West Bank.
This wave of arrests of Gaza's workers in Isarel and West Bank are taking place against the backdrop of increased violence from Israeli settlers and forces in the West Bank that killed a reported 111 Palestinians and displaced at least two Palestinian communities near the Jordan Valley.