Palestinians to sue Israel for wages lost after October 7

Palestinian labor union demands Israel pay Arab workers $9 billion in compensation for wages lost as a result of jobs lost in the wake of October 7 invasion.

By World Israel News Staff

A Palestinian labor union is preparing to sue Israel for roughly $9 billion in compensation for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Authority residents employed in Israel prior to Gaza’s October 7 invasion.

The class action lawsuit is being organized by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, with the aid of international labor groups, and follows a petition filed with the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Palestinian Authority officials have claimed that 225,000 PA residents working in Israel prior to the invasion lost their jobs as a result of the outbreak of the war in 2023.

In September 2024, nine trade unions from around the world signed on to the Palestinian Authority complaint to the ILO, calling on the ILO to pressure Israel to pay compensation to workers from the PA who lost their jobs after October 7, 2023.

In a recent interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the secretary-general of the Palestinian Workers Union, Shaher Saad – who also serves in the Palestinian Central Council – said that the total wages earned by PA residents employed in Israel amounts to roughly 1.35 billion shekels ($440 million) per month, exceeding both public and private sector total earnings inside the PA.

Saad added that the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions is seeking some $9 billion in compensation for lost wages for 225,000 PA workers.

The damages also include compensation for unpaid social benefits.

This is not the first time Saad and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions has demanded Israeli taxpayers compensate Palestinian workers employed in Israel for the loss of income following a major disaster.

In 2021, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions sought hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation from Israel for lost wages resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic and associated lockdowns.