Palestinian human rights organizations say there is no information available about the fate of around 1,000 Palestinian workers from Gaza who were working in the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories on the day the regime launched its barbarous campaign in early October.
The Commission for Detainee’s Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, and the Addameer Foundation for Prisoner Care and Human Rights said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the number of Palestinian workers from Gaza who were in the occupied lands before October 7 was approximately 10,300.
The statement said that “3,200 of them [workers] were released at the Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossing at the beginning of November 2023 from the detention centers where they were being held, some still wearing zip ties on their wrists bearing numbers.”
“Approximately 6,441 workers were deported to the West Bank, and approximately 1,000 workers remain missing in light of the ongoing crime of forced disappearance against Gaza detainees,” the Palestinian rights groups stated.
The organizations said that Israel has so far refused to disclose their whereabouts or information about their well-being, only saying that there are two military camps for Gaza detainees – one near Be’er Sheva, and another near al-Quds.
Israel launched the hostilities on October 7 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.
The regime has also been enforcing a near-total siege on the coastal territory, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle.
Israel has killed at least 34,560 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents. Over 77,700 Palestinians have also been injured.