Business owners in Beit Ula, a town northwest of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, say recent Israeli measures could cost them their livelihoods. Israeli forces sealed the entrances to the local industrial zone with earthen berms and stone barriers on November 4. The closure has cut roughly 60 Palestinian businesses off from their customers and suppliers, putting the jobs of around 2,500 workers at risk.
Fayez al-Amleh, 63, watches over a factory in the complex that makes security and fire-resistant doors. His production lines were still running, but they nearly stopped when the barriers went up. “Today, raw materials cannot get in, and we cannot get our products out of the industrial zone,” al-Amleh said.
Hebron siege and the closure that followed
Hebron and the surrounding areas were hit hard by Israeli military operations after two Israeli soldiers were killed by suspected Palestinian gunmen at a checkpoint near the city on October 23. Thousands of residents were forced from their homes during a 10-day siege. They returned only after Israeli soldiers left the city on November 2.
Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jabari said the siege led to losses of more than 12 million shekels ($3.8m) a day. The city is an economic hub for the occupied West Bank. Days after the siege was lifted, the blockade on the Beit Ula industrial zone began, and it has significantly disrupted operations at al-Amleh’s factory and the lives of the 70 people he employs.
Job cuts and sales collapse at Beit Ula factories
Al-Amleh said his staff have had their hours reduced or been moved to part-time work, which has lowered their take-home pay. Since the closure, his daily sales have fallen from 70,000 shekels ($21,988) to between 2,000 and 3,000 shekels ($628 to $942).
The industrial zone hosts facilities that shape metal and make doors, electrical cabinets, sponge, cardboard and construction materials. These businesses are linked to a wider network of commercial and service firms that depend on the steady movement of supplies and goods. Agricultural activity on the surrounding land has also suffered, along with suppliers and traders whose daily work depends on the factories.
Israeli forces have also carried out a series of measures around the town of Beit Ula. These include the demolition of four industrial facilities and the setting up of a nearby settlement outpost. Palestinians in the area see these steps as part of a broader Israeli effort to take control of land around the industrial zone, threatening economic and agricultural activity there.
Israel has said that workers from Beit Ula enter Israel without work permits, and that this is the reason it has imposed restrictions on the zone. Al-Amleh rejected that allegation. He described the restrictions instead as collective punishment against the businesses and workers based in the zone.
Ayman al-Adam, who has worked at the industrial zone for about three years, said the blockade threatens the incomes that he and hundreds of other employees depend on to support their families. “This road closure is not just a closure. It is closing the doors of livelihood for all the workers,” he said.
Palestinian officials urge reopening of the zone
Palestinian Minister of National Economy Mohammad al-Amour said Israeli measures against economic facilities in the West Bank amount to a war on the Palestinian economy. “About 60 economic facilities along with their workers and all aspects of their production have been completely isolated from the Palestinian economy,” al-Amour said. “This situation has become a burden on the Palestinian economy instead of being a source of support and contributing to it.”
Mahmoud Allan, head of the North Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has called on authorities to halt what he described as an apparent Israeli campaign against Palestinian business. He warned that the zone must reopen quickly or major establishments there could be disrupted and forced to close. “Factories can no longer operate normally. Workers have lost their income, and business owners are struggling to keep their businesses alive.”
Al-Amleh warned that more factories could shut if the siege on the industrial zone continues. He said this would severely affect the economic viability of Beit Ula and nearby towns, which rely heavily on the zone for jobs and secondary businesses. Palestinians in the area also point to wider pressures, including attacks on olive farmers during this year’s harvest and the expansion of Israeli checkpoints that have restricted the movement of goods and people across the West Bank.
