Tens of thousands of Palestinian Arabs are expected to enter the country in the course of today and tomorrow after the crossings were reopened. Most of them have jobs in construction and agriculture. So far, around 12,000 have returned to work, out of around 40,000 who have received permits.
On March 25, PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh told Palestinian laborers to return home in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and Israel and the PA agreed to close the border crossings. Now, too, the decision to reopen the crossings has been made mutually. Those who return to their jobs will be required to remain within the Green Line until after Ramadan, in three weeks' time. Prior to the coronavirus epidemic, around 120,000 Palestinian Arabs worked within the Green Line and in Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria.