The General Union of Palestinian Workers stated that the occupation policies since the beginning of the genocide war in the Gaza Strip have led to the loss of more than half a million Palestinian workers in the West Bank and the Strip of their livelihoods.
In a statement on Saturday, the union denounced the systematic siege, continuous closures, and daily raids faced by Palestinian workers in the occupied West Bank.
It noted that these policies “constitute a compound crime” against the Palestinian worker and affect their natural right to work and a decent life.
The statement pointed out that "the occupation policies over more than two years of continuous aggression have led to the loss of over 500,000 Palestinian workers of their livelihoods, and unemployment rates have risen to unprecedented levels, exceeding 50 percent in the West Bank, while reaching more than 84 percent in the Gaza Strip."
It explained that "the economic losses incurred by Palestinian workers exceeded 9 billion dollars, as a result of preventing them from accessing their workplaces inside the 48 territories (within Israel) and the settlements, in addition to the destruction of local productive sectors, mainly agriculture, construction, and services, due to the continuous security and military siege for 27 months."
The union disclosed that “44 workers were martyred and hundreds injured, due to being targeted by the occupation forces with live bullets in the workshops they worked in, or while being chased on their way to their workplaces as they crossed the segregation barrier, with more than 34,000 workers arrested.”
The union held the occupation government “fully responsible for these massive financial losses, and for the martyrdom of dozens of Palestinian workers at military checkpoints or due to settlers' assaults while they were trying to secure a living for their families, in a flagrant violation of international labor agreements and the Geneva Conventions.”
The union called on the International Labour Organization, the International Trade Union Confederation, the Arab Union of Trade Unions, and all the free trade unions around the world, “to act immediately and pressure the occupation authorities to stop the collective punishment policies against Palestinian workers, to ensure freedom of movement and the right to access workplaces, and to provide international protection for workers, and to hold the occupation accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian working class.”
This comes as the occupation army and settlers have escalated their assaults in the West Bank since the beginning of the genocide war in the Gaza Strip, which lasted two years, resulting in the death of more than 1100 Palestinians, and injuring about 11,000, in addition to the arrest of more than 21,000.
Meanwhile, the genocide war in Gaza resulted in about 71,000 martyrs and 171,000 injured Palestinians, most of them children and women, and massive destruction with the United Nations estimating the reconstruction costs at about 70 billion dollars.
