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Israel Plans to Bring in 15,000 Workers from Morocco

23 June 2022, Israel, village of Salem: Construction workers carry on building a new Part of the Separation Wall around the village of Salem in North border of Israel with West-Bank city of Jenin. (dpa)
23 June 2022, Israel, village of Salem: Construction workers carry on building a new Part of the Separation Wall around the village of Salem in North border of Israel with West-Bank city of Jenin. (dpa)
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Israel Plans to Bring in 15,000 Workers from Morocco

23 June 2022, Israel, village of Salem: Construction workers carry on building a new Part of the Separation Wall around the village of Salem in North border of Israel with West-Bank city of Jenin. (dpa)
23 June 2022, Israel, village of Salem: Construction workers carry on building a new Part of the Separation Wall around the village of Salem in North border of Israel with West-Bank city of Jenin. (dpa)

Morocco and Israel are planning to fly in thousands of Moroccan workers to Tel Aviv to meet local demand.

Up to 15,000 workers, including hundreds of engineers, are part of the plan.

Chairman of the Construction and Wood Workers Union in Israel’s Histadrut labor federation, Yitzhak Moyal, said: “We are short 40,000 workers in ten different professions.”

Since relaxing coronavirus restrictions, Israel has faced challenges in bringing in foreign workers, especially from Eastern Europe and China.

Domestic labor, backed by Palestinian workers, no longer meets the demands, even though 120,000 Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and 22,000 in the Gaza Strip are permitted to work in Israel.

Moyal revealed that joint efforts by the Moroccan and Israeli foreign ministries were capped with an agreement to launch a pilot program to employ a few hundred Moroccan laborers in the construction sector and dozens in nursing and assisting the elderly.

He hoped that over 15,000 Moroccan workers would eventually be recruited.

He noted that Moroccans are skilled in the sectors that are witnessing a shortage of labor in Israel, adding: “This could really improve the pace of construction in Israel.”

The first batch of construction laborers may arrive in Israel by 2023.

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UN: Almost No Food Has Reached Northern Gaza for More than 40 Days Because of Israeli Siege

Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip walk on the main Salah al-Din road on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas . (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip walk on the main Salah al-Din road on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas . (AFP)
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UN: Almost No Food Has Reached Northern Gaza for More than 40 Days Because of Israeli Siege

Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip walk on the main Salah al-Din road on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas . (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip walk on the main Salah al-Din road on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas . (AFP)

The UN humanitarian office says thousands of Palestinians in areas of northern Gaza under siege by Israeli forces are struggling to stay alive because there have been virtually no food or humanitarian aid deliveries for more than 40 days.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric delivered the grim report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs known as OCHA on Tuesday.

“OCHA reports that all attempts by the UN to support people in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and parts of Jabaliya – all of which remain under siege – have been either denied or impeded,” he said.

So far in November, Dujarric said OCHA reports that 27 out of 31 planned humanitarian missions were rejected by Israel and the other four were severely impeded. That means they were prevented from accomplishing all the critical work they set out to do, he said.

“The result is that bakeries and kitchens in North Gaza governorate have shut down, nutrition support has been suspended, and the refueling of water and sanitation facilities has been completely blocked,” Dujarric said.

An Israeli ground and air offensive in the north has severely restricting access to its three hospitals which are desperately short of medical supplies, blood and fuel, he said.

Israel blocked attempts by UN partners to send in an international emergency medical team to help, he said.

On Sunday, Dujarric said, OCHA supported a mission led by the UN World Health Organization that was able to deliver 10,000 liters of fuel to Kamal Adwan Hospital and transfer some 17 patients, three unaccompanied children and nearly two dozen caregivers to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Food and medical supplies were also supposed to be delivered to Kamal Adwan but Dujarric said, “our partners say the team was forced to offload the food at an Israeli military checkpoint before reaching the hospital, and only some of the medical supplies could be delivered to the facility.”

Asked whether the UN believes Israel is trying to force the estimated 75,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza to move south by denying the aid deliveries, Dujarric replied: “I can’t speak to the intentions of the Israeli government and the Israeli policy. We’re just seeing the result of it and trying to deal with it.”