On Labor Day, Palestinian Workers Face Record Unemployment, Siege, and Systemic Oppression
With Gaza under siege and the West Bank under military lockdown, Palestinian workers suffer extreme poverty, 95% unemployment in Gaza, and daily violations amid calls for urgent international action.
Watan-As the world observes Labor Day, Palestinian workers are enduring some of the most catastrophic labor conditions globally, driven by the devastating war on Gaza and intensified Israeli attacks and settlement expansion in the West Bank.
According to a statistical report released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, unemployment in Gaza skyrocketed to approximately 68% in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 45% in the third quarter of 2023—prior to the latest war.
Youth (ages 15–29) were hit hardest, with 74% now outside education, training, or the labor market.
The crisis extends beyond Gaza. In the West Bank, Israel’s closures and separation measures have paralyzed economic life. The number of unemployed rose to 313,000 in 2024, up from 183,000 the year before, pushing unemployment to 31% among the labor force—nearly double 2023’s figure.
The number of West Bank workers allowed to work in Israel (’48 territories) plunged from 107,000 in 2023 to 21,000 in 2024 due to war-related restrictions—a drop of over 85,000 jobs.
In Gaza, the siege has resulted in widespread hunger, extreme inflation, and a collapse of purchasing power. Residents now rely almost entirely on international aid, which the United Nations says has been fully depleted since Israel’s blockade began on March 2, 2025. The entry of food and medicine has been halted, raising alarms over a looming famine.
On this occasion, the Palestinian National Council called on the international community and human rights organizations to intervene and halt Israel’s violations against Palestinian workers. “In Gaza, a worker cannot even secure a single meal for his family. He lives in catastrophic, inhumane conditions—under bombing, in tents that shield neither from the heat nor the cold.”
The Council noted that Israeli aggression has destroyed Gaza’s factories and workshops, crippling the economy and causing unemployment to exceed 95%, amid growing hunger, disease, and malnutrition.
In Jerusalem, Palestinian workers face systematic discrimination, lack of insurance, arbitrary arrests, and daily harassment as part of a strategy to force them out of the city.
Fatah also marked Labor Day with a statement condemning Israel’s “genocidal war” against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. It described how Israeli policies are destroying all aspects of life, demolishing infrastructure, and collapsing the Palestinian economy in order to advance colonial goals like annexation and displacement.
The party urged the global community to hold Israel accountable and end its crimes against workers, praising the resilience of Palestinian laborers and affirming the people’s right to statehood and sovereignty with Jerusalem as its capital.
Hamas released a similar statement, saluting the sacrifices of Palestinian workers and reminding the world that their suffering is part of a broader tragedy inflicted by 75 years of occupation and intensified over the past 18 months. The movement insisted that this suffering will only end with the end of occupation.
Hamas also denounced Israel’s attacks on UNRWA, calling them part of a campaign to erase historical evidence of displacement. It urged the international community to continue supporting UNRWA and to expose Israel’s crimes against Palestinian workers.
The group called on human rights organizations worldwide to confront their responsibilities, demand the lifting of the Gaza blockade, and help stop Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian workers’ freedom, livelihoods, and human dignity.
