The Times of Israel reported on Thursday that ten Indian construction workers were rescued overnight from a village in the West Bank, where they had been detained for more than a month after their passports were confiscated. The Israeli Population and Immigration Authority was cited in the report.
The Indian embassy verified the development in a statement on X, stating that “Israeli authorities have traced 10 missing Indian construction workers to the West Bank and have brought them back to Israel.” The Embassy is in communication with the Israeli authorities and has requested to guarantee their safety and well-being, despite the fact that the matter is still under investigation.
The laborers were enticed to the West Bank village of al-Zaayem by Palestinians who offered them employment opportunities, according to Israeli authorities. The Times of Israel reported that their passports were subsequently confiscated, and attempts were made to use them to enter Israel.
Workers travelled to Israel for construction jobs
The Population and Immigration Authority, in collaboration with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Justice Ministry, conducted an overnight operation to rescue the workers, who had initially arrived in Israel for construction positions, according to the Times of Israel report.
The laborers were relocated to a secure location after their rescue, while the authorities evaluated their employment status.
The IDF reportedly detected the fraudulent use of the workers’ passports and subsequently returned them to their rightful proprietors.
Ynetnews, a news portal, reported that Palestinians had utilized Indian passports to more easily navigate Israeli checkpoints. According to a report by Ynetnews, the Indian laborers were ultimately rescued after Israeli forces intercepted a number of suspects at a checkpoint.
The Times of Israel report further stated that approximately 16,000 Indian laborers have arrived in Israel in the past year to address labor shortages in the construction sector. Following Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinian construction laborers were prohibited from entering Israel, resulting in the emergence of this shortage.
At the same time, the Israeli military declared that it had demolished two residences in Hebron, a city located in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday. According to AFP, the residences belonged to Palestinians who were accused of perpetrating a fatal attack in Tel Aviv in October 2024.
The military verified in a statement that its forces “destroyed in Hebron the homes of the two terrorists who attacked the Jaffa light rail station, in which seven Israelis and foreign residents were murdered and 15 additional civilians were injured.”
The assault occurred on October 1, 2024, at approximately the same time that Iran launched a barrage of approximately 200 missiles at Israel in support of its allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hamas, which has been at odds with Israel since its October 7, 2023, attack, claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv shooting, asserting that it “coincided with the painful strikes… executed by Iran.”
