Palestinian trade unionist warns of liquidation and assassination operations against Palestinian workers in Israel

A Palestinian trade unionist warned of liquidation and assassination operations against Palestinian workers in Israel, calling on institutions and trade unions around the world to take serious action to prosecute the crimes committed against the workers.

This came in a statement by Shahar Saad, Secretary General of the Palestinian Workers' Trade Unions Federation, on Monday, in response to statements by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said that the treatment of Palestinian workers trying to "infiltrate" into Israel would be by opening fire.

Saad condemned the "blatant threats issued by Ben-Gvir through the Hebrew Channel 14 and other Israeli platforms, which included explicit calls to kill Palestinian workers by shooting at them while they try to reach their workplaces by various means".

He added that the incitement of settlers "through the dissemination of video clips showing Palestinian workers entering by climbing the separation walls between the West Bank and the occupied interior reveals a prepared ground for carrying out a series of liquidation and assassination operations against the workers, under the pretext of what is called illegal infiltration".

Saad warned "of the danger of this approach adopted by official Israeli parties, and implemented in many cases in undeclared ways, amid the continuous rise in the number of martyrs for a living wage during the current year".

He called on institutions, trade unions, and labor unions around the world to "take serious action to prosecute the crimes committed against Palestinian workers, expose them at international levels, and work to establish mechanisms and international courts to hold all those involved accountable".

He pointed out that Israeli policies for more than two years "have led to more than 500,000 Palestinian workers losing their livelihoods, and unemployment rates rising to unprecedented levels".

Almost daily, injuries to Palestinians near the separation wall around Jerusalem and along the borders between the West Bank and Israel recur, during attempts by Palestinian workers to cross it in search of work inside Israel, which occupies their lands.

Data from the General Federation of Palestinian Workers indicates that 44 Palestinian workers were killed by Israeli army gunfire, and more than 32,000 others were arrested, inside workplaces or during their attempts to seek work since the start of the genocide war until October 28 last.

Since the start of the genocide war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has prevented Palestinian workers from returning to their workplaces, so some resort to climbing the separation wall despite the risks involved in the adventure.