Thousands of Gazans flock to get work permits in Israel
Thousands of unemployed Gazans are flocking to the offices of the Chambers of Commerce to submit their papers to obtain a permit to work inside Israel, following reports that Israel has agreed to grant 2,600 commercial permits to Gaza residents.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Thousands of unemployed Palestinians flocked to the offices of the Chamber of Commerce in the five governorates in the Gaza Strip to submit their identification papers in order to obtain a permit to work inside Israel.
On Oct. 5, several Chamber of Commerce offices announced that they had started receiving applications for work permits in Israel.
Video footage shows unemployed Gazans even sleeping on the sidewalks in front of the offices of the Chamber of Commerce in order to get a turn, since Israel is only providing a limited number of permits to Gaza residents.
A source in the General Authority of Civil Affairs in Gaza told Al-Monitor that Israel recently issued permits to 2,600 new merchants from the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of permits granted to Gaza residents in the past three years to 9,600.
