News / Palestine

Israel moves to toughen crackdown on Palestinians workers

Tuesday, 15 March 2016 6:09 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 15 March 2016 6:40 AM ]

Israeli border police frisk a young Palestinian man at the Damascus Gate of East al-Quds (Jerusalem)’s Old City, March 13, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli parliament has endorsed a tough law to further crack down on Palestinian workers 'without work permits' in the occupied Palestinian territories by targeting their employers.

The bill, sponsored by Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan, passed its third reading “by a large majority,” the Knesset said on its website on Monday evening.

The new law targets those Israelis who employ Palestinian laborers said to be without permits and those who transport them. The workers themselves are already subject to arrest and imprisonment.

Under the new law, the Israeli employers of the Palestinians who have entered occupied territories without the obligatory—and hard to secure—permit will face up to two years in prison if the worker is employed for a single day.

“Those who employ more than one illegal worker, or hire an illegal worker for more than 24 hours, will face up to four years of incarceration,” according to the Knesset website.

The law also imposes fines of between 40,000 and 452,000 shekels (10,550 and 119,000 dollars) on the companies that regularly employ unlicensed Palestinian staff.

Israeli police have already increased bids against the Palestinian laborers who, they say, do not have work permits, arresting over 400 workers and scores of their Israeli employers last week alone.

The law also aims to quell alleged acts of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming by Palestinians as, according to Israeli officials, as some 44 percent of such alleged attacks are carried out by Palestinians in occupied territories without permits.

Tensions have heightened in the occupied Palestinian territories due to Israel’s imposition in August 2015 of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

Nearly 200 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October. Scores of Israelis have also been killed during the time span.

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