Gazans stranded in the West Bank want to return to their families despite the bombing
“Who wants to return to Gaza?” This question seems illogical, at least with the continued Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, but dozens of men stranded in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the war respond with one voice: “Me, to join my family.”
Abdul Azim Al-Arifi says: “My wife is alone in Gaza City under bombardment with our four children. They are afraid. They have neither water nor food. I have to go back to Gaza to help them,” he said, explaining that his children are between seven months and nine years old.
This 29-year-old Gazan worked for nine months in a factory in northern Israel until the Hamas attack on October 7.
Shortly after the attack, Israel canceled 18,500 work permits issued to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, where unemployment exceeds 50 percent. At that time, Abdel Azim Al-Arifi headed to the occupied West Bank so that he would not be in an illegal situation in Israel.
There are about 1,500 workers from Gaza in Jericho in the southern West Bank, according to the city’s deputy governor, Yusra Al-Sweiti, who says that most of them have expressed their desire to return to Gaza.
But Israel, which has pledged to “eliminate” the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), is relentlessly bombing the small besieged strip, where about 2.4 million people live, deprived of drinking water, electricity and food.
More than 10,800 people were killed as a result of the Israeli bombing in Gaza, most of them civilians, including more than 4,412 children, and 26,905 citizens were injured, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
The war broke out after an unprecedented attack launched by the Hamas movement on October 7.
“I don’t know when they will be able to leave,” says Jericho’s Deputy Governor, Yusra Al-Suwaiti, explaining that “if they go to the checkpoint (at the Jericho exit), the Israelis will arrest them.” Therefore, the transfer must be coordinated with the Israelis.”
It was not immediately possible to obtain a comment from the Israeli military administration responsible for the Palestinian territories.
Israel geographically separates the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the Israeli army surrounds them.
In Jericho, about 350 workers were housed in the buildings of Al-Istiqlal University, where they wandered absent-mindedly all day, smoking and following the bombing on their phones.
One of them says: “Every time the phone rings, we are afraid of receiving bad news.”
Isn’t staying in the West Bank better than living under bombs? There are many answers to this question.
Ghazi cuts the hair of a colleague during their forced stay in Jericho (AFP)
Someone answers: “We don’t care if we die there.” We want to be with our children. “At least if something happens, we will be together.”
Another responds: “We don’t sleep.” “We only think about our families.”
Some of them reported that members of their families were killed in the Israeli bombing, showing pictures of their victim relatives.
Wissam Maqut (36 years old) is in Jericho with his father Ismail (55 years old), after they worked in construction in Israel. He says: “We were able to obtain a permit (to leave Gaza) after an investigation conducted by the Israeli authorities. This clearly shows that we have no relationship with Hamas.”
When Wissam was able to talk to his wife on the phone, he heard the sound of bombing. She recently told him: “I expect to die every minute,” while his 12-year-old son asked him if he would see him again.
His mother, wife, and their six children remained in northern Gaza, despite Israel’s warnings to residents that they should head to the south of the Strip. Wissam says: “It is very dangerous to walk on the road.” “There are no men with them.”
Muhammad Rifi (32 years old) prefers to stay in the West Bank, and says: “I no longer have a home in Gaza. My family was displaced to the south, where they are staying in a school… I will not leave before the ceasefire.”
Al-Suwaiti confirms that “these men can stay if they wish… No one is forcing them to leave.”
In early November, Israel returned thousands of Palestinian workers to Gaza, many of whom told Agence France-Presse that they had been imprisoned after their permits were revoked.
2023-11-09 20:54:00
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