Israel Reopens Gaza Crossings, Lets Palestinians Back to Work After Two Weeks 

Palestinian workers gather at the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, on September 28, 2023, after the crossing was reopened by Israeli authorities. (AFP)
Palestinian workers gather at the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, on September 28, 2023, after the crossing was reopened by Israeli authorities. (AFP)
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Israel Reopens Gaza Crossings, Lets Palestinians Back to Work After Two Weeks 

Palestinian workers gather at the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, on September 28, 2023, after the crossing was reopened by Israeli authorities. (AFP)
Palestinian workers gather at the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, on September 28, 2023, after the crossing was reopened by Israeli authorities. (AFP)

Israel reopened crossing points with Gaza on Thursday, allowing thousands of Palestinian workers to get to their jobs in Israel and the West Bank, after nearly two weeks of closure prompted by violent protests along the border.

Around 18,000 Gazans have permits from Israeli authorities to work outside the blockaded enclave, providing an injection of cash amounting to some $2 million a day to the impoverished territory's economy.

The move comes amid stepped-up international efforts by Egypt and the United Nations to defuse tensions and prevent a new round of armed conflict in the enclave.

For around two weeks, protestors throwing stones and explosive devices have faced off against Israeli troops who have responded with live fire, killing at least one man and wounding dozens more.

Protests on Wednesday were less intense, and so was the Israeli response. A Palestinian official familiar with mediation efforts told Reuters the development came "upon the request of mediators to de-escalate tensions".

Desperate to go back to their jobs, workers began to flock to the Palestinian side of the crossing soon after Israel made the announcement late on Wednesday.

"We want to go to work and earn a living for our children because the situation was too bad for us the past two weeks," said Khaled Zurub, 57, who works in construction in Israel.

Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians, said security assessments would determine whether the border remained open.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the Hamas movement that rules Gaza and opposes peace deals with Israel, said Israel was constantly violating Gazans' fundamental right to freedom of movement with repeated border closures and the blockade of Gaza.

Israel blocks many goods from entering Gaza, citing security concerns, and also reserves the right to restrict exports.

According to IMF figures, per capita income in Gaza is only a quarter of that of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The World Bank says unemployment is nearly 50%.



Cyprus Says Syria Will Take Back Citizens Trying to Reach the Mediterranean Island by Boat

Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
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Cyprus Says Syria Will Take Back Citizens Trying to Reach the Mediterranean Island by Boat

Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)

Syria has agreed to take back any of its citizens intercepted trying to reach Cyprus by boat, the Mediterranean island nation's deputy minister for migration said Monday.

Nicholas Ioannides says two inflatable boats, each carrying 30 Syrians, were already turned back in recent days in line with a bilateral search and rescue agreement that Cyprus and Syria now have in place.

Officials didn't share further details about the agreement.

Cypriot navy and police patrol boats intercepted the two vessels on May 9th and 10th after they put out a call for help. They were outside Cypriot territorial waters but within the island's search and rescue area of responsibility, a government statement said. They were subsequently escorted back to a port in the Syrian city of Tartus.

Ioannides told private TV station Antenna there’s been an uptick of boatloads of migrants trying to reach Cyprus from Syria, unlike in recent years when vessels would primarily depart from Lebanon. Cyprus and Lebanon have a long-standing agreement to send back migrants.

He said Cypriot authorities and their Syrian counterparts are trying to fight back against human traffickers who are supplying an underground market for laborers.

According to Ioannides, traffickers apparently cut deals with local employers to bring in Syrian laborers who pick up work right away, despite laws that prevent asylum-seekers from working before the completion of a nine-month residency period.

“The message we’re sending is that the Cyprus Republic won’t tolerate the abuse of the asylum system from people who aren’t eligible for either asylum or international protection and just come here only to work,” Ioannides said.

The bilateral agreement is compounded by the Cypriot government’s decision last week not to automatically grant asylum to Syrian migrants, but to examine their applications individually on merit and according to international and European laws.

From a total of 19,000 pending asylum applications, 13,000 have been filed by Syrian nationals, according to figures quoted by Ioannides.

Since Assad was toppled in December last year and a new transitional government took power, some 2,300 Syrians have either dropped their asylum claims or rescinded their international protection status, while 2,100 have already departed Cyprus for Syria.

Both the United Nations refugee agency and Europe’s top human rights body have urged the Cyprus government to stop pushing back migrants trying to reach the island by boat. Cyprus strongly denies it’s committing any pushbacks according to its definition.