Israel reinstates Gaza worker permit increase

Israel on Wednesday said it was reinstating an increase in entry permits for Palestinian workers from the blockaded Gaza Strip, cancelling a suspension announced days earlier.

Authorities decided “to raise the quota of entry permits granted to Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip for purposes of work and commerce by an additional 2,000 permits”, said Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

“This ends a suspension of the same decision last weekend, in the wake of a rocket fire directed at the state of Israel,” it added in a statement.

Cogat said Wednesday’s decision would take effect in the coming days “provided that the security situation in the area remains quiet”.

Israeli warplanes on Saturday hit sites in the Gaza Strip belonging to the Islamist movement Hamas in retaliation for rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli army had said.

The Jewish state later said it was suspending a rise in entry permits for Palestinian workers from Gaza.

The increase of 2,000 permits, initially announced last Thursday, takes the total to 14,000.

Work in Israel provides a lifeline for thousands of Gazans, who can earn far higher wages on Israeli farms and construction sites than they do in Gaza.

The impoverished enclave of 2.3 million people has been under Israeli blockade since Hamas took power in 2007.