Thousands of Gaza Workers Go Missing in Occupied Territories Amid Wartime Mass Arrests

By Staff, Agencies

Human rights groups and trade unions believe some of the workers have been illegally detained in military facilities in the occupied West Bank, following the revocation of their permits to work in the “Israeli”-occupied Palestinian territories. Authorities in the apartheid “Israeli” entity have so far refused to release the names of those they are holding.

Before Hamas’s October 7 offensive – Operation al-Aqsa Flood – about 18,500 residents of Gaza held permits to work outside the besieged Gaza Strip. The exact number of workers present in the “Israeli” entity as hostilities began remains unknown, but thousands are thought to have been rounded up by the “Israeli” army and transferred to undisclosed locations.

Walid, a Palestinian worker born in Gaza, had lived in the occupied West Bank for more than 25 years when the apartheid “Israeli” regime launched its relentless bombardment of Gaza which has so far killed more than 7,000 people and has lasted for three weeks. On October 8, he was arrested as he headed for work and detained in a facility in the “Almon” area, also known as “Anatot”, built on the ruins of the Palestinian town of Anata that the “Israeli” entity confiscated in occupied East al-Quds [Jerusalem].

The facility, human rights organizations say, is among those repurposed by the “Israeli” regime to hold hundreds of workers in arbitrary detention, in breach of international law.

Walid, whose real name and personal details are being withheld to avoid reprisals, described being kept in a “cage” without a roof, under the sun and without food, water or access to the toilet for three days, according to a written testimony given to the “Israeli” group HaMoked.

He was then moved to an area of about 300 square meters where hundreds of laborers shared a chemical toilet cubicle. When he asked to contact the Red Cross, he was cursed and beaten up by the “Israeli” soldiers.

Walid was released after “Israeli” officers ascertained that, although he was born in Gaza, he is a resident of the West Bank. His testimony is among the few accounts to have so far emerged from the detention centers where Gaza workers have been held incommunicado and without legal representation since October 7.

So far, Jessica Montell, executive director of HaMoked says, more than 400 families and friends of missing people have got in touch with the organization, trying to trace their loved ones as they simultaneously struggle to survive the  bombardments and “total” siege. Those calls have been dwindling in the past week as residents of Gaza are increasingly cut off from communications.

As part of its work, HaMoked regularly submits the names of detainees to the “Israeli” authorities to find out where they may be held.

“The ‘Israeli’ military is supposed to inform us within 24 hours of who they are holding, which location they are being held in,” Montell said. “But for all those Gazans, they told us [they]’re not the right [authority to] address.”

“It can’t be the case that it’s not clear where they’re being held, how many are being held, under what conditions, under what legal status,” she added.

A group of six local organisations, including HaMoked, have petitioned the "Israeli" entity’s so-called "High Court" to disclose the names and locations of the detainees and to ensure humane holding conditions.

According to the petitioners, some of the Palestinians have been detained in the Almon area – where Walid was detained – as well as in Ofer, near Ramallah, and in Sde Teyman, near Beer al-Sabe [“Beersheba”], in the southern Naqab [Negev] desert.

Once the hostilities began and the Beit Hanoun [“Erez”] crossing into northern Gaza was shut, workers attempted to make their way to the West Bank to find shelter among Palestinian residents.

But on October 10, the “Israeli” entity’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories [COGAT] revoked all work permits it had previously issued to Gaza residents, instantly turning permit-holders into “illegal aliens”.

Miriam Marmur, advocacy director of the “Israeli” group “Gisha” said the situation was “unparalleled”.

According to Walid’s testimony, one of the officers at a detention camp told detainees there would be no chance of them being released as long as there were “Israeli” hostages in Gaza.

“This isn’t an official statement, but certainly it’s an indication that, at least to some of the people involved in this, there is a kind of desire to use these workers as bargaining chips,” Marmur said.

Under the "Israeli" entity’s permit system, very few Palestinians from the Gaza Strip can leave the territory.

Permits can be issued for work, health and humanitarian reasons after careful vetting by the “Israeli” authorities. Most of the workers from Gaza – where the overall unemployment rate is 45 percent and youth unemployment has soared to 70 percent – take up manual jobs in the “Israeli” entity, where the pay is several times higher.

The Minister of Labor for the Palestinian Authority [PA] estimated that about 4,500 workers are unaccounted for and are believed to have been detained by “Israeli” forces. “Israeli” media outlet N12 reported that 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza were being interrogated in “Israeli” holding facilities over their possible involvement in the attack.

Alongside Gaza workers, "Israeli" forces have detained more than 1,450 Palestinian residents of the West Bank since October 7, according to estimates by the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

The arrests have taken place against a backdrop of laws and amendments that human rights organizations say amount to punitive measures.