The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights admitted this Friday that he was “deeply concerned” about the forced return to the Gaza Strip of thousands of Palestinians who worked in Israel.
These thousands of workers, who were in Israel at the time of the attacks by the Islamist group Hamas, on October 7, “were returned, despite the seriousness of the situation” in the Gaza Strip, highlighted the spokeswoman for the High Commissioner, Elizabeth Throssell. , at her usual press conference held in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Gaza Strip has been the target of intense Israeli bombing since the Hamas attack, which caused around 1,400 deaths, more than 5,400 injuries and during which more than 240 hostages were taken.
In retaliation, Israel declared war on Hamas – an organization considered terrorist by Israel, the European Union and the United States – and has been bombing Gaza ever since.
Israel’s military operations, which have lasted 28 days, have already killed more than 9,000 Palestinians and injured more than 20,000, according to Hamas figures.
According to Israeli authorities, around 18,500 Gazans had work permits in Israel at the start of the war.
“Thousands of workers who were blocked in Israel since October 7, the day of the Hamas attack, “were returned” to Gaza, said the person in charge of the Gaza border posts, quoted by the French news agency AFP.
Three days after the attack, on October 10, Israel revoked all work permits granted to Gazans, according to Israeli non-governmental human rights organizations.
“The Israeli army and police imprisoned Gazans” without “any legal basis,” the organizations added.
The situation in the Gaza Strip is considered alarming by the UN, given that the siege imposed by Israel since October 9 has deprived the inhabitants of the supply of water, food and electricity.
The spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Agency warned this Friday that the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is “alarming and urgent”, highlighting, in particular, the violence of Israeli settlers against the Palestinian population.
Source: TSF
