‘I lost both legs': Palestinians scale separation wall for chance to work

Al Jazeera

24-06-2025

Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Early on a recent Sunday morning, Saher figured he had a rare opportunity. Expecting Israeli forces to be distracted by the fallout from Iranian rocket attacks, he started to climb Israel's separation wall.
He needed about 15 minutes to get to the other side. But as he climbed, an Israeli patrol suddenly appeared.
'I panicked, let go of the rope, and fell.'
He dropped from the top of the wall – a concrete barrier, in some places 8 metres (26 feet) high, which cuts through the occupied West Bank. Saher fell 4 metres (13 ft).
'For a moment, I thought I had died,' the 26-year-old recalled. 'I heard voices in Hebrew. Then pain started creeping through my body.'
A Palestinian ambulance crew eventually transported Saber to Ramallah Hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple rib fractures and fitted with a brace.
The Palestinian construction worker was trying to cross into Israel to reach his job in the city of Rishon LeZion. He spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal for trying to enter Israel without permission.
Before Israel's war on Gaza began following the October 7 attack on Israel, about 390,000 Palestinian workers relied on jobs in Israeli territory. But after the war started, Israeli authorities revoked their work permits and forced them to leave. As the war drags on, and amid Israeli military actions in the occupied West Bank, some Palestinians – mostly in the construction and hospitality sectors – have been risking their lives to get back to Israel for temporary work.
With crossing points closed and fewer smugglers willing to take people by car since October 2023, many have had only one perilous option left: to scale the wall. That option has now become deadlier, as Israel employed tighter security amid its conflict with Iran and the escalating regional tensions. The wall is now heavily monitored by drones, sensors and military patrols.
'Two fires'
With unemployment in the occupied West Bank at critical levels, desperation is pushing people to climb the wall.
'Oh God, let me die and relieve me of this torment,' said Ahed Rizk, 29, as he lay on a bed in Ramallah Hospital. The recently married construction worker was in anguish, and not only physically: He is now unable to provide for his family.
Rizk, who is from a village near Ramallah, lost the use of both legs after falling from the separation wall during an attempt to enter Israel in mid-June. One of his legs is now paralysed; the other was shattered by the fall.
He underwent a six-hour surgery after falling from a height of about 5 metres (16 ft). The rope he had been climbing snapped under his 140kg (309-pound) weight.
'This wasn't my first time entering for work,' he said. 'But it was the most dangerous. I used to go with smugglers and pay a fee, but when the war started, chaos spread. There were no vehicles and soldiers were everywhere.
'I knew I was caught between two fires,' he added, referring to the risk of being killed while trying to enter Israel and the hardship of not being able to work to support his family.
Rizk said dozens of workers had been gathered near the wall between the town of ar-Ram and occupied East Jerusalem. Without a ladder tall enough to reach the top of the wall, they used a shorter ladder and a rope tied to the other side. But as Rizk climbed, the rope broke.
'I landed on another young man who was climbing. He had bruises. I lost both legs. The others went to work. My cousin ran when the [Israeli] army approached. I was left alone.'
'No choice'
Shaher Saad, the secretary-general of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), says Palestinians have been forced to attempt dangerous crossings for years.
'Decades of high unemployment have left thousands with no choice,' he told Al Jazeera.
But since the war in Gaza began, crossings have grown deadlier, Saad said. Palestinians have been shot by Israeli forces or fallen to their deaths.
At least 35 Palestinian workers have died attempting to cross into Israel for work in 2025, Saad said. It is unclear how many of those were shot and how many died as a result of falling.
Saad attributes the deaths to Israel's tightened restrictions, which prevent workers from accessing authorised avenues to employment.
Conditions in Israeli work sites are often poor, he added. 'Most sites lack basic safety standards. Workers aren't given protective gear. Some injuries are also due to the lack of awareness about safety procedures.'
Deepening social marginalisation
Israel's strategy through restrictions on movement and military actions is to exacerbate inequality between Israelis and Palestinians, said Sari Orabi, a Ramallah-based independent political analyst and researcher.
'It imposes restrictions on movement and access to resources, forcing civilians to choose between hunger and physical danger,' Orabi told Al Jazeera.
'This policy of geographic division and military control deepens social marginalisation and increases dependence on aid. It fosters a state of helplessness and poverty.'
In the village of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah, Otham al-Khawaja, a 37-year-old father of three, described how, as he tried to climb the wall in March, Israeli forces opened fire. The tiler by trade fell, breaking both of his legs, but believes he would have been shot had he not fallen.
He had scaled the wall several times before that because he feared not being able to provide for his family. 'Fear sometimes clouds judgement,' he reflected.
Al-Khawaja underwent surgery to insert metal rods into his legs. After three months of treatment, he was able to walk again, though not like before.
'God wrote me a new life,' he said, grateful to have survived.
'You will never appreciate life until you face death. Then you learn to accept whatever comes your way.'
This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.