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Gazans pursue jobs in Israel despite danger

Difficult living conditions inside the Gaza Strip have pushed citizens to risk their lives to emigrate in search of work even without the proper Israeli permits.
A Palestinian man holds a child near the Erez crossing in Beit Hanun in the north of the Gaza Strip on January 13, 2015. The head of the Palestinian authority for civil affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, said that Hamas have taken over the Palestinian side of the Erez Crossing, while the Islamic movement which controls the impoverished Palestinian territory has accused the Palestinian authority of stopping work at the crossing "without justification." AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED        (Photo credit should read MOHA
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JABALIYA, Gaza Strip — Gazan workers are still trying to look for new work opportunities to relieve the unemployment crisis and the dire economic situation as a result of the Israeli blockade that has been going on for eight years. This time, however, their search for work is inside Israel and in a legal way. Some Palestinian workers have entered Israel through permits granted only to traders.

Officials with the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) told Al-Monitor that nearly 200,000 unemployed workers in Gaza, following last summer’s war, pinned their hopes on obtaining work permits to enter Israel after Israel issued a statement a month after the war about providing humanitarian opportunities for Gazans. This included permits for 5,000 workers. However, these dreams faded away as the Israeli authorities allowed the issuance of “work” permits for traders only.

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