Jerusalem
Israel on Friday deported thousands of Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip back to the besieged territory, Palestinian authorities said, capping what many described as harrowing weeks trapped in legal limbo since their detention when the Israel-Hamas war erupted.
Some workers, streaming by foot through an Israeli crossing that had been sealed shut since Hamas unleashed its brutal attack on southern Israel Oct 7, told of violent mistreatment by Israeli authorities in detention centres. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
“We sacrificed and they treated us like livestock over there,” one of the workers, Wael al-Sajda, said from the border, pointing to his ankle fitted with an identification bracelet.
Al-Sajda was among the roughly 18,000 Palestinians from Gaza allowed to work in menial jobs in Israel. The permits have been coveted in Gaza, which has an unemployment rate approaching 50 per cent. Late Thursday, Israel announced it was revoking the workers’ permits and would deport them. Israel had said little about the workers since the Oct 7 Hamas attack. The workers sent home on Friday talked about a massive roundup and being placed in Israeli prisons. Some returned with bruises and other wounds from what they said was abuse at the hands of Israeli authorities. Others returned psychologically scarred. At least one, 61-year-old Mansour Warsh Agha, returned in a body bag.
