Summary of the crisis in Tulkarem and beyond
For nearly a year in the occupied West Bank, Hanadi Abu Zant has been unable to pay rent after losing the permit that allowed her to work inside Israel, according to a report by the Associated Press from Tulkarem. When her landlord called the police, she hid in a mosque, the AP reported. Abu Zant told the AP that her biggest fear was being expelled from her home and asked where she and her children would sleep.
The permit restrictions have tightened the ability of many Palestinians to find work in Israel since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza, the AP reported. According to the AP, Abu Zant is one of about 100,000 Palestinians whose work permits were revoked after the attack, a change that has confined many job seekers to a West Bank labor market where work is scarce and pay is far lower. The AP reported that some people sold belongings or took on debt to cover necessities such as food, electricity, and school expenses for their children.
The AP also described how some Palestinians have turned to routes that carry additional risks. It reported that some have paid high black-market fees for permits or attempted to cross into Israel clandestinely, increasing the chance of arrest or worse treatment if they are suspected of links to militants. In the AP’s account, the pressure is compounded by displacement and violence connected to the war and by Israel’s continued security posture in the West Bank.
The AP reported that Israeli officials say Palestinian workers do not have an inherent right to enter Israel and that decisions on permits are made with security considerations in mind. It also said Israel allows thousands of Palestinians with permits to work in dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are built on land Palestinians claim for a future state. Officials did not respond to questions, the AP reported, about why more Palestinians are allowed to work in settlements even as others lose permits.
In economic assessments, the AP said the World Bank has warned that the West Bank’s economy is at risk of collapse due to the restrictions. The AP reported that Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics data showed unemployment had risen to nearly 30% by late 2025, compared with around 12% before the war. It also reported that prior to the conflict, tens of thousands of Palestinians worked inside Israel—often in construction and services—where wages could be more than double what was available in the West Bank.
The AP tied the broader fiscal impact to income flows from jobs in Israel. It said the Israeli National Security Studies Institute estimated that wages earned in Israel injected about $4.0 billion into the Palestinian economy in 2022, roughly two-thirds of the Palestinian Authority’s budget that year. Palestinian workers interviewed by the AP also blamed the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, for not doing enough to create jobs.
Gisha, an Israeli group that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement, told the AP that Israel has reinstated fewer than 10,000 permits since the restrictions tightened. The AP reported that in recent months, some families have tried to fill gaps by taking work in settlements, including people who worked in Israel before the war and then lost their permits. According to the AP, before the conflict about 48,000 Palestinians worked in settlements, and Gisha said more than 65% kept their permits, while the AP reported that Palestinians and much of the international community consider the settlements illegal.
The AP said Palestinians working in settlements spoke anonymously to avoid reprisals and described how employers have tightened security since the start of the war, with some saying workers who step out of line are more likely to be dismissed. It also reported that in the settlement of Mishor Adumim, two Palestinians said security guards reviewed workers’ phones and could revoke permits arbitrarily.
As the permit restrictions have reshaped work patterns, some people interviewed by the AP described debt and hunger as consequences of job losses and failed attempts to work in Israel. One woman, Shuhrat Barghouthi, told the AP that her husband had spent five months in prison after trying to climb the separation barrier to work in Israel, and the AP reported that the couple had previously earned about $5,700 per month in Israel. In the AP account, they are now unemployed with about $14,000 in debt, and Barghouthi said her children often fall ill and go to bed hungry; she also said her refrigerator was empty and she could not afford to heat her apartment.
Other figures in the AP report pointed to changes in labor demand inside Israel and the costs of displacement. It reported that Raphael Dadush, an Israeli developer, said permit restrictions have led to expensive delays, and that he described attempts to replace Palestinian workers with foreign labor as imperfect because the substitutes cost more and may not know the language. The AP also reported that Assaf Adiv, executive director of an Israeli group advocating for Palestinian labor rights, said economic integration is necessary or else there will be “chaos,” adding that the alternative to work in Israel is hunger and despair.
Source: Associated Press report by Sam Mednick on Feb. 10, 2026.