The Situation of Women and Youth
Studies have found that the average age of Palestinians working in Israel
without permits is only 20 years, compared to 37 years for Palestinians
with work permits.172 Furthermore, the quotas determining how many
Palestinians can obtain permits to work in different sectors are often
allocated to mainly male-dominated economic sectors, which further harms
women.173 Apart from being disadvantaged in the Palestinian economy and
having more difficulties obtaining work permits, Palestinian women are also
disadvantaged when looking at the average daily wage. In the illegal Israeli
colonies, the average daily wage for women is only NIS 84 ($ 21.6), compared
to NIS 174 ($ 44.8) for men.174
Regarding Palestinian youth, Human Rights Watch has documented several
cases in which employers in illegal Israeli colonies hired children aged 13 or 14,
some of whom claim to have worked alongside children only ten years old.175
This happens despite both international law and Israeli labor law havinga set
minimum employment age of 15 years.176 As these children work without any
official permits or registration, they earn far less than the Israeli minimum
wage, which applies to workers working in Israeli colonies, as they cannot
document where they work or for how many hours.177 Although it is impossible
to know for certain how many Palestinian children are forced into child labor
in illegal Israeli colonies, the Ma’an Development Center estimates that up to
1,000 children work in Israeli agricultural colonies during the summer.178
Restrictions on the Economy of the Gaza Strip
As a result of the many restrictions put on trade and economic development
in the Gaza Strip, in particular due to the Israeli blockade, the economy of the
172 KavLa Oved, “Employment of Palestinians in Israel and the Settlements Restrictive Policies and Abuse
of Rights”, August 2012, page 35. Available at: palestinakomiteen.no/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/
employment-of-palestinians-in-Israel.pdf
173 The International Labour Organization, “The Situation of Workers of the Occupied Palestinian
Territories”, International Labour Office, 2015, page 24. Available at: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/
public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_368279.pdf
174 Dr. Majid Sbeih, “Executive Summary of a study on “Palestinian wage workers in Israeli settlements
in the West bank – Characteristics and Work Circumstances””, Al-Quds Open University, 2011, page
3. Available at: http://www.dwrc.org/files/Palestinian%20wage%20workers%20in%20Israeli%20
settlements%20in%20the%20West%20Bank%20%E2%80%93%20Characteristics%20and%20Work%20
Circumstances%20(executive%20summary).pdf
175 Human Rights Watch, “Ripe for Abuse: Palestinian Child Labor in Israeli Agricultural Settlements in the
West Bank”, 13 April 2015. Available at: www.hrw.org/report/2015/04/13/ripe-abuse/palestinianchild-labor-israeli-agricultural-settlements-west-bank
176 Ibid.
177 Ibid.
178 Ibid.
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