The Palestinians dying for work
Palestinians use a rope to climb over the separation barrier from the town of Al-Ram into East Jerusalem, 12 January 2026
Charlotte Ritz-Jack reports in +972 on 12 June 2026:
The morning of May 12 started like many others had for Zakaria Qatousa, a 44-year-old father of four from Deir Qadis in the occupied West Bank. Every few months, Qatousa got up early, caught a ride to Al-Ram — a town bordering East Jerusalem but cut off by Israel’s separation wall — and scaled the concrete. Once across, he would make his way to central Israel, where he spent the next month or two working various construction jobs. After earning a few thousand shekels, he would make the journey back to his family.
This time, however, Qatousa never came home. “The [Israeli police] shot and killed him,” Zakaria’s brother, who prefers not to be named, told +972 Magazine. “A bullet hit him in the head while he was climbing the wall, and he was martyred.”
The Qatousas are among dozens of Palestinian families in the West Bank that have recently buried loved ones killed while attempting to enter Israel in search of work. “There are so many people who do this because they’ve lost their income,” Zakaria’s brother explained. “He couldn’t provide for his family, for his home, for the things he needs.”
Ever since the separation wall was built in the early 2000s, Palestinians have scaled it — bypassing the checkpoints that maintain Israel’s strict permit regime to search for work or pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. But while the Israeli army often arrested or injured them in the past, killing them remained fairly rare. Since October 7, however, the death toll has skyrocketed.
The General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions (GFPTU) reports that Israel has killed more than 50 Palestinians attempting to cross the separation barrier without permits over the past two and a half years. Hundreds more — at least 290 according to the UN — have been wounded while trying to get over the 25-foot wall.