Israel's Deportation of Palestinian Workers Signals End of Rare Exchange

Thousands of Palestinian workers, who were detained in Israeli prisons during the recent conflict, were deported back to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, marking the end of a rare economic point of contact between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza. Before the war, around 18,500 Palestinians held permits to work in Israel, providing a much-needed economic outlet for Gaza. The deportations have left an estimated 7,000 Gazans stranded outside the enclave, stripped of their work permits. The situation in Gaza remains dire, with shortages of food, water, electricity, and medicine, and thousands of Gazans seeking safety in the West Bank without information on when they can return to their families.