RAMALLAH, Wednesday, March 25, 2020 (WAFA) – In light of Israel’s mistreatment and abuse of Palestinians working inside Israel and the rise in the number of Israelis infected with coronavirus, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh yesterday called on all workers to return home and quarantine themselves for 14 days upon their return home.
He said in a statement that the workers should return to their homes for their own safety and in anticipation of severe restriction on movement in Israel in order to contain the deadly disease.
Shtayyeh said that the workers who show any sign of corona symptoms, should report to the nearest health center to their place of residence and abide by the instructions of the local authorities.
The call by the prime minister also came as Israel continued to deport workers who showed signs of illness and often just abandon them at West Bank checkpoints.
Issam Abu Bakr, governor of the northern West Bank district of Tulkarm, said last night that Israel expelled to the West Bank three workers dismissed by their employers after they fell ill and had high fever.
He said the workers were thrown on the Palestinian side of an Israeli army-manned checkpoint near Tulkarm in very weak conditions where they were later picked up by Palestinian ambulances and taken to a quarantine center in the city.
Another worker was earlier left at a West Bank checkpoint after he fell ill. Tests on this worker later showed that he does not have the corona virus.
Israel had said that it would allow thousands of Palestinian workers, mainly in construction, to remain in Israel for at least two months in order to keep the work going.
However, workers have been complaining of bad living conditions and mistreatment by their employers which prompted the Palestinian Authority (PA) to call on them to return home if they so wish. The PA had previously said it would not allow any of the workers to return to the West Bank after they moved to work and stay in Israel.
Israel has reported over 2000 cases of coronavirus and five deaths.
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