'Collective punishment': Israel detains workers from Palestine's Gaza, cancels work permits

After last month's flare-up in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the process of exile and detention has begun for thousands of workers from Gaza who had work permits in Israel but are now being subjected to collective punishment, which is illegal under international law.

The work permits of all workers from Gaza have been canceled by Israeli authorities.

Some of the workers took shelter in the occupied West Bank using their own means since they did not find Israel safe given the threats against them and because they had nowhere to go with Gaza under constant Israeli bombardment.

Thousands were first detained and imprisoned by Israeli forces in the places where they worked and then forcibly sent back.

Israel announced on November 2 that the Palestinian workers in Israel would be sent back to the besieged Palestinian enclave.

"Israel is cutting off all contact with Gaza," a statement from the Israeli Prime Ministry Press Office said, adding: "There will be no Palestinian workers from Gaza left in Israel, and the Gazan workers who were in Israel on the day the war started will be returned to Gaza."

Following this decision, thousands of workers were sent to Gaza from the Kerem Shalom Border Gate in southern Israel.

However, it is not known whether there are any Gaza workers still in Israeli prisons.

When contacted by Anadolu, the Israeli army press office and the Unit for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (COGAT), which is affiliated with the Israeli army, did not provide information about the detained workers from Gaza.