ICSPR Palestinian Workers Face Genocide and Collective Punishment by Israel, Leading to Poverty, Unemployment, and Deprivation of Rights

Date: May 1, 2025

Press Release
On the Occasion of International Workers’ Day

ICSPR: Palestinian Workers Face Genocide and Collective Punishment by Israel, Leading to Poverty, Unemployment, and Deprivation of Rights

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) states that this year’s International Workers’ Day comes at a time when workers in Palestine are experiencing the worst humanitarian conditions due to ongoing violations, crimes, and aggression by the Israeli occupation, which have severely exacerbated the economic and social crises in Palestine amid the absence of effective governmental policies to address the rapid collapse of the labor market.

The Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the killing and injury of thousands of workers, as well as the destruction of most economic, agricultural, commercial, tourism, and service sectors. This has led to widespread unemployment and extreme poverty among workers who have lost their sources of income and employment. More than half a million job opportunities have been lost in the Gaza Strip, leaving hundreds of thousands of families displaced, without any means of livelihood, living in displacement camps and shelters due to the destruction of their homes and workplaces. These families now rely on humanitarian aid and lack all essential services, including health care, due to the destruction of hospitals, schools, and universities. Their lives and the lives of their children are at risk, suffering from severe famine as humanitarian aid has been prevented from entering for over 60 consecutive days, threatening their survival and future.

Meanwhile, the crimes of the Israeli occupation and the ongoing aggression in the West Bank have also severely impacted workers. The Palestinian GDP has declined by more than 28%, and over 250,000 job opportunities have been lost due to Israeli bans on West Bank workers from reaching their jobs, the destruction of commercial facilities in areas where Israeli forces have invaded, land confiscation, settler attacks, and the fragmentation of the West Bank. This is part of the occupation’s systematic policies aimed at destroying the foundations of building a national economy through siege, control of border crossings, and obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery. All this comes amidst ongoing political division and the absence of a social protection system in Palestine, as well as the lack of effective governmental policies to support Gaza’s workers and address the accelerating collapse of the labor market.

In the same context, the Israeli occupation continues to target civilians and civilian infrastructure, destroy most economic sectors, and impose siege and collective punishment on the residents of Gaza. For over a year and a half, the population has lived under dire and catastrophic conditions. The genocide has resulted in the killing, injury, or disappearance of more than 65,000 people, and the injury of over 118,000 others, including thousands of workers and their families. More than 88% of buildings, facilities, and infrastructure in Gaza have been destroyed. Forced displacement continues, forcing workers and civilians to depend on the scarce humanitarian aid allowed into the Strip or resort to simple labor to secure their basic needs.

The continued Israeli seizure and theft of more than $2 billion in Palestinian tax revenues (clearance funds) has had catastrophic consequences on the Palestinian Authority’s ability to pay salaries or provide assistance to workers who lost their jobs. Moreover, Israeli restrictions on UNRWA have resulted in thousands losing their permanent and temporary jobs, while the suspension of international funding for local NGOs has led to a decline in their services and the dismissal of thousands of workers.

On this occasion, the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) salutes Palestinian and international workers and strongly condemns the Israeli occupation’s crimes against Palestinian workers, which have resulted in thousands of deaths, injuries, and arrests, and a significant rise in poverty and unemployment rates — exceeding 95% in the Gaza Strip and 50% in the West Bank. The continued control over the Palestinian economy, closure of crossings, seizure of resources, piracy of Palestinian tax revenues, and the ongoing genocide and destruction of economic, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and service facilities in both Gaza and the West Bank have caused direct and indirect losses exceeding $55 billion. This has increased workers’ and residents’ dependence on the limited humanitarian aid provided by international organizations. ICSPR therefore calls and demands the following:

• ICSPR calls on the international community, labor unions, and free people around the world to activate popular movements, labor protests, and strikes in solidarity with Palestinian workers, and to pressure their governments to fulfill their moral and legal responsibilities by pressuring Israel to end the genocide, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid, and compel Israel to uphold its legal obligations toward Palestinian workers and compensate them. ICSPR also calls on labor unions worldwide to escalate their boycott of Israel, impose sanctions, and work to hold Israeli leaders and soldiers accountable before international courts for their crimes against Palestinian workers and civilians.

• ICSPR calls on the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities toward Palestinian workers, support them, enhance their resilience, and protect their labor rights. It also urges the development of a national policy to ensure social protection for workers and their families, including the establishment of a dedicated workers’ support fund.

• ICSPR, while expressing solidarity with UNRWA in the face of Israeli and American targeting, urges the international community to continue funding and supporting UNRWA. It also calls on the agency to review its decisions to terminate the employment of most of its forcibly displaced staff in Egypt, reactivate temporary employment programs, and increase aid and support for unemployed families and workers to help protect the rights and dignity of Palestinian refugees.

• ICSPR urges the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the free world and international organizations to enhance their support for the Palestinian Authority, civil society institutions, the private sector, and labor unions in order to strengthen their humanitarian efforts and play a more effective role in supporting the resilience of Palestinian workers and their families.