Trade unions have accused the Israeli occupation authorities of violating international labor law by withholding wages and benefits from more than 200,000 Palestinian workers since October 7, 2023, stressing that the blatant violations of wage protection established by the International Labor Organization have pushed many workers into the clutches of extreme poverty.

Nine international unions filed an official complaint against the Israeli occupation authorities before the International Labor Organization on behalf of about 200,000 Palestinian workers.

According to the Associated Press, the complaint demands that the occupation authorities pay compensation to thousands of Palestinian workers who did not receive their wages after the start of the Israeli war of extermination on Gaza in October 2023.

The complaint focuses on violations suffered by Palestinian workers, including delayed payment of wages and harsh conditions under which they work.

The complaint aims to recover wages for Palestinian workers who previously worked in the occupied Palestinian territories. The trade unions behind it represent some 207 million workers in more than 160 countries.

The complaint includes the Building and Wood Workers' International, Education International, IndustriALL Global Union, International Federation of Journalists, International Trade Union Confederation, International Transport Workers' Federation, International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations, and Public Services International. The OECD Trade Union Advisory Committee also signed the complaint.

According to a legal memorandum on the complaint, the occupation authorities revoked the work permits of about 13,000 Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip to work legally in the occupied Palestinian territories, following the start of the war on Gaza, leaving these workers with unpaid wages since September 2023.

Moreover, the occupation has not allowed an additional 200,000 Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank who work in the occupied territories to enter, and they have not received any notices of termination of service, according to the memo, which explains that they are entitled to the wages stipulated in the work contracts for their previous and subsequent months of work.

The unions accuse the occupation authorities of violating the International Labour Organization's Protection of Wages Convention, which was ratified by 100 member states, including Israel, in 1959.

The complaint comes in the context of escalating international efforts aimed at improving the conditions of Palestinian workers and holding Israel accountable for the violations committed against them.

According to the International Labor Organization, more than 500,000 people have lost their jobs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, exacerbating an already deteriorating economic landscape for Palestinians.