National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar met in Tel Aviv on Tuesday with Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior member of the Palestinian Authority. Israel's coordinator for the territories also attended the meeting held ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in efforts to ease tensions on The West Bank.
Israel's channel 12 news broke the story and reported that the matter of allowing Palestinian workers over the age of 45 to return to their jobs in order to ease the economic difficulties in the West Bank and in the PA, compounded by the war and by the government's decision to prevent Palestinians from working in the country.
Security officials have warned that after four months without work, the 100,000 Palestinians on the West Bank were increasingly upset and frustrated that they cannot provide for their families and that could lead to the outbreak of further violence. Only 5,000 are allowed in daily for critical work and 9,000 others work inside West Bank settlements.
The Shin Bet warned the government that continuing to prevent the workers from entering Israel was dangerous. Thus far many in the coalition government, including far right ministers Bezalel Smortich and Itamar Ben-gvir have persisted in their refusal to allow Palestinians into Israel.
Israeli officials are also debating whether to allow West Bank Palestinians into Jerusalem to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque, the third most sacred site in Islam and a hotspot of violent clashes with police. Last year 100,000 residents of the West Bank were allowed to pray at al Aqsa but this year the police has urged ministers not to allow them in.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who is in charge of the police, was a considerable part of the force's decision but the final world would be the security cabinet that would also have to decide whether the practice of permitting West Bank Palestinians to visit sites inside Israel during the holiday, should be stopped this year as well.
"Since the start of the war Hamas has been trying to drag the residents of the West Bank and Arab citizens of Israel into the conflict and has thus far failed. Ramadan, which is a uniting factor for all Muslims, can be an opportunity for Hamas to incite violence if we are not careful," security officials said.