According to the January 1985 issue of the magazine Israil Abkunust, the nunber of Palestintan r.rorkers froo Ehe t{est Bank and @za declined from 90,000 in the beginning of 1984 to 54,000 at the end of that yesr. In reality' however, the figure is probably htgher. Indeed, afthough there are aa yet no official statistics, prelioinary data collected by the Trade Unlona in Ratlsllah, Qalqlltya' Tulkarn, Bethlehem and Hebron auggest that OOre than 55 per cent of the workers uho r{ere emPloyed in Isrsel at the beginnlng of l-984 have loat their Jobs. tn other uords, between 50,000 and 60,000 of the persons who used to be employed ln Israel are at preEent out of nork. various methods are used to brlng about the dismissal of Arab workerst (a) As conflrned by lbshe Oasab, the Minister of tEbour, the neltspaper Yadlrut Ahranut reported that the Israeli authorities have set up 15 unlts to expel Arabs working without work permits, i.e. about 32,000 norkers. Patrols are stationed along the nain roads to verlfy the papers of such rdorkers, check-pointa are set up around the torrna, rnd the police and border guards acting in unison rald places of l'ork and inpose beavy fines, usually exceeding one fiEnthrs rages' on anyone who is cauqht. (b) vlbrk pernits are cancelled and not renewed (such pernits normallt have to be renewed each pnth). (c) !{orkera are also dlsmiased by the employers themsel-vea !rho' in oost cases, glven the situabion of the workers, agree to keep them on if they accept to work longer hours for les6 rbney. (d) unllke Israeli rorkers, theEe workers receive no unemployoent benefits after their dlsmlssal, although the unemployment contributions rrhlch are deducted from thelr rrageg are never less than those pald by the Israeli $orkers. Ehis
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the labor market and employment conditions of Palestinian workers in Israel, specifically focusing on the decline in employment rates and the methods used to dismiss Arab workers. The text highlights the difficulties faced by these workers, including the lack of unemployment benefits and the harsh treatment by the Israeli authorities.

**Category**
Employment, Humanitarian aid and relief