Israel deports thousands of Palestinian workers to Gaza after weeks of detention, torture

Israel deported on Friday morning thousands of Palestinian workers from Gaza who had been employed there before being detained in Israeli prisons following Hamas’ October 7 operation, according to Mada Masr journalists in Gaza.

The Israelis reportedly dropped the workers at the entrance of the Karm Abu Salem border crossing, which sits at the junction between the Gaza-Egypt and Israel-Gaza borders, leaving the workers to walk for about 2 kilometers before they reached the populated areas in the southern part of the besieged enclave.

In a video obtained by Mada Masr, one of the workers who reached Gaza today said that he entered Israel legally for work before the Israeli war on the enclave, through the Erez crossing in the north. Three days after the war started, Israeli police and military forces raided the workers' sleeping accommodations and took them to Ofer Prison, south of Ramallah, where they assaulted, tortured and interrogated them for three weeks, he said.

Another worker said that Israeli forces stole 10,000 shekels (approximately US$2,542) and two mobile phones from him and took his ID card, adding that none of the workers’ belongings were returned upon their release.

“The workers arrived in Gaza in terrible condition,” says Palestinian Crossings Authority spokesperson Wael Abu Omar. “The occupation army assaulted and abused them, stole their personal belongings, money and phones. There are cases of fatigue and major injuries among them.”

Israeli outlet Yedioth Ahronoth estimates that 3,200 Palestinian workers were deported after being detained following the October 7 attack.

The families of the workers had submitted several complaints to the Red Cross demanding information about their whereabouts, but Israeli authorities refused to respond to the organization, a source in contact with the families told Mada Masr.

For its part, the United Nations expressed concern about the deportation of thousands of Palestinian workers to the Gaza Strip. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell noted that the returnees face great risk as a result of the ongoing war, and most likely have no homes left to go back to in Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Labor Ministry in Gaza, the number of Palestinians from the Strip who obtained permits to work in Israel has reached about 18,500, most of whom work in carpentry, blacksmithing, construction and sanitation.