Gazans Jump to Learn Hebrew

 Increased demand for Hebrew classes at the Nafha languages center follows a new offer of work permits by Israel as it has moved to calm border tensions.

In a brightly lit classroom in Gaza, a teacher spells out Hebrew words on a whiteboard, followed attentively by Maher Al-Farra and dozens of other Palestinians hoping to take advantage of an opening up of employment opportunities in Israel.

Increased demand for the classes at the Nafha languages center follows a new offer of work permits by Israel as it has moved to calm border tensions following an 11-day conflict in May with Hamas, the Islamist group which rules the Gaza Strip.

It now offers 10,000 permits allowing Gaza residents to cross the border to work in Israel - a new source of income to a region where 64% of the population is estimated to live in poverty and unemployment runs at 50%.

Ahmed Al-Faleet, the center's owner, said the number of people enlisted to learn Hebrew has increased four-fold to reach 160 students per course since Israel began giving work permits in the last quarter of 2021.

"These courses allow anyone who gets a permit to read signs, documents written in Hebrew, and communicate with (soldiers) on Israeli checkpoints. If an employer speaks only Hebrew it enables the worker to deal with him," he told Reuters.

 A WEEK'S WAGES IN A DAY

No one expects the cautious increase in the number of work permits to end the long-running conflict between Israel and Hamas, who fought four wars since the Islamist faction seized control in Gaza in 2007.

But for the dozens of workers and merchants enrolled in the class at Nafha, the change offers the prospect of earning, in Israel, the equivalent of a week's wages in Gaza.

"I came here today to learn Hebrew so I can handle things at my work inside (Israel) easily," Farra told Reuters.

Israeli liaison officer Colonel Moshe Tetro said the new jobs would improve Gaza's economy and "would also serve calm and security stability."

Eassam Daalis, a senior Hamas official, said Israel was eventually expected to offer 30,000 work permits, which economists say could allow workers to earn an average of NIS 500 ($156) a day, equivalent to what some can earn a week working in Gaza.