The head of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions in the Gaza Strip, Sami Al-Amsi, said, “Closing the Erez crossing for 24 hours is a collective punishment for about 18,500 worker families that have nothing to do with the events and developments taking place.”

In a statement, the head of the Labor Syndicate expressed his rejection of this Israeli policy that aims to tamper with the permit file, saying: “The occupation, since last year, has been using the permit file as a political and economic card to pressure Gaza, with the aim of achieving political gains at the expense of the workers’ segment.”

The mediators called for pressure on the occupation to separate humanitarian and political issues, and to fulfill its obligations and pledges to raise the number of workers inside the occupied interior to 30,000 workers, in addition to lifting the siege.

He pointed out that on August 27, the occupation announced a freeze on increasing the quota for workers in the Gaza Strip to 20,000 workers, and linked the decision to the current events in the West Bank, considering this a lie, slander, and trading in the suffering of the people of the Strip, because since the arrival of the extreme right-wing government of (Benjamin) Netanyahu We only found an increase in the restrictions and suffering on the people of the Gaza Strip.”

He pointed out that the greatest loss for Gaza workers occurred in August 2022, after the checkpoint continued to be closed for a week during the Israeli aggression on Gaza, and the workers lost about 18 million shekels ($5 million).