Hussein Jamil, a 46-year-old Palestinian, held a work permit in Israel for 22 years. However, the outbreak of the war in Gaza changed everything. Now, with a greenhouse flourishing in the West Bank village of Bayt Dajan, Jamil insists he will never return to his previous job. His former Israeli boss has repeatedly called, urging him to come back, but Jamil is resolute. “But I told him that I would never go back to work there,” he states, tending to his tomato plants with his sons. In Bayt Dajan, near Nablus, the northern West Bank’s commercial hub, many men have chosen to embrace the traditional pursuit of farming, a stark contrast to their past lives of commuting to heavily guarded checkpoints leading into Israel. “It’s a very useful job and above all safer” than working in Israel, says Jamil.
Israel’s decision to halt the issuance of work permits for Palestinians after the October 7 Hamas attack in Gaza has had a profound impact. This attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, deprived 200,000 Palestinians in the West Bank of their livelihoods. The subsequent Israeli reprisals in Gaza have claimed the lives of 39,790 people, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory.
Salaries in Israel were more than double what Palestinians earned in the occupied territories, according to the World Bank. This stark economic reality propelled many Palestinians towards the newly established greenhouses, sprouting up on the hillsides where their ancestors once cultivated wheat. “We are independent and peaceful,” says Jamil, emphasizing the newfound sense of control. “It’s much better than working in Israel. Here we work on our land.”
Economic prospects in the West Bank have taken a nosedive since the war erupted. Unemployment has skyrocketed from 12.9 percent to 32 percent in the final three months of 2023, resulting in the loss of approximately 144,000 jobs. The escalating violence has further crippled the economy, as the army has imposed roadblocks, constricting economic activity. Since October 7, at least 617 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli army or settlers, according to an AFP count based on official Palestinian data. At least 18 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period, according to official Israeli data. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that the West Bank is losing $22 million in income each day.
In Bayt Dajan, a village with a population of 5,000, 300-350 men worked in Israel before the war. Mazen Abu Jaish, 43, who spent 10 years working in Israel, initially clung to hope that he would reclaim his job. “We waited, thinking that we would get our jobs back again after the war,” he told AFP. However, unlike previous conflicts in Gaza, which typically lasted only a few weeks, the current war was approaching its first anniversary. “So we ended up getting together with 35 other people from the village and we decided to start farming rather than keep waiting,” says Jaish.
Since October 7, 15 hectares of Bayt Dajan have been transformed into greenhouses brimming with tomatoes and cucumbers, cultivated by former Israeli workers. Municipal officials say the shift towards agriculture has brought about another significant benefit: land preservation. These greenhouses are situated in Area C, the section of the West Bank under Israeli control, where the establishment of illegal Israeli settlements is a constant threat. Area C comprises 59 percent of the West Bank and 63 percent of its agricultural land. The Norwegian Refugee Council has documented that Israel has denied Palestinians access to 99 percent of the land in Area C, often preventing them from farming their own fields. “Local unemployed people have found work and above all, we are preserving land in Area C,” said Mohammad Ridwan, a member of the municipal council.
