Concluding observations;
- While the Palestinian labor market has now largely recovered from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers are continuing to suffer the socio-economic consequences of the 55-year occupation. Settlements in the West Bank keep expanding and the blockade of Gaza is holding the enclave on the brink of collapse. Workers’ rights are being infringed by the entrenched occupation. The labor sector is underperforming.
- There is no political horizon to change the overall debilitating context. Prospects for peace and an end to the conflict have dimmed. The process towards the two-state solution lacks momentum and leadership. Coordination and dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on vital matters of joint concern, including labor issues, are absent.
- A range of Palestinian labor market indicators improved in 2022. Nonetheless, a return to prepandemic levels represents a return to an only slightly less dire reality. Nowhere else is that more evident than in Gaza, where there is an overwhelming and unmet need for employment as a result of the stifling siege. For most Palestinians, informal employment is often the only option, but it is characterized by a high degree of vulnerability and poverty. Workers’ real wages are also being eroded amid declining nominal wages and high inflation.
- The Palestinian economy and labor market are becoming increasingly reliant on Israel and the settlements to drive job creation and sustain aggregate demand. The growing numbers of Palestinians holding permits to work in Israel are often perceived to be privileged to have access to the Israeli labor market, in view of the high unemployment and low wages in the West Bank and Gaza. Yet, long-standing structural disadvantages and abusive practices affecting Palestinian workers in Israel persist. Despite efforts by the Government of Israel to reform the exploitative and illegal permit brokerage system, it remains a defining feature of Palestinians’ work in Israel. Brokers on both sides of the Green Line are making millions in profits. Nowhere is the need for a joint response between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli authorities more evident.
- With limited fiscal capacity, shrinking civic space and declining trust in institutions, societal frustrations are increasing, as exemplified by the strike of Palestinian public schoolteachers at the time of the mission. Finalizing the Palestinian labor law reform and the new law on social security for private sector workers will be crucial for improving labor governance and prospects for social cohesion. Social dialogue and tripartism are fundamental to the legitimacy and effectiveness of the legislation.
- Integration of the occupied Syrian Golan into Israel continues, with policies to develop the area and double the number of settlers. Most Syrian citizens of the occupied Golan have now transitioned away from their traditional livelihoods in agriculture, with many turning to construction and tourism. This deepening integration is accompanied by a continuing sense of unequal treatment.
- Social justice requires equality, freedom and dignity. These values, upon which international labor standards are built, are undermined by the occupation and the increasing violence across the occupied Arab territories and Israel. In this context, decent work appears to be ever more elusive. The protection of rights at work as set out in the international labor standards is integral to the fulfilment of international human rights obligations.