The Israeli police arrested last night several Palestinian workers from the West Bank in a large-scale campaign which continued into the early morning hours of Thursday.
According to the Hebrew media police patrols chased hundreds of Palestinian workmen near West Bank separation walls and fences and inside Israel (1948 occupied Palestine).
The Israeli police stated that its forces arrested 26 West Bankers aboard a vehicle in an area near the Arab towns of Iksal and Daburiyya in Israel’s northern district.
The police added that the detained workers did not hold residency or work permits pointing out that the driver of the vehicle who is from the Arab City of Nazareth was also arrested.
According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem many Palestinian workmen have no choice but to risk entering Israel without permits.
“They are caught between a rock and hard place: On one hand Israel issues permits sparingly based on arbitrarily chosen stringent criteria. On the other hand it prevents the development of an independent Palestinian economy by restricting imports exports industrial development and movement and by taking over land reserves and other Palestinian resources. This leaves Palestinians with no possibility to make a substantial living within the West Bank. This reality serves Israeli interests as it guarantees cheap [and] disempowered labor” B’Tselem says.
