Just two weeks after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza entered into force, a sign of relaxation: the Israeli military authorities increase the number of authorized Palestinian workers from the Palestinian enclave to enter Israel.
With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michael Paul
These are 1,500 additional permits that are allocated to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as of this Sunday. This brings the total number of workers authorized to travel to Israel to 15,500. This decision was taken by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz following a security assessment.
A process which, according to an Israeli military source, will take a few days and is directly linked to the truce in place for two weeks between Israel and Gaza. According to Cogat, the Israeli body responsible for the civil administration of the occupied territories, the quota of exit permits granted to Palestinian workers could soon reach 20,000. A figure which should include, in addition to the workers strictly speaking, the traders and businessmen from the Palestinian enclave.
Still far from half a million before the second Intifada
External work is one of the main economic resources of the Gaza Strip. Before the second Intifada in 2000 the number of monthly outflows of Palestinian workers to Israel reached half a million.
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