بيان صادر عن الاتحاد الدولي للبناء والأخشاب BWI

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) expresses its deepest alarm and condemnation at the escalating war in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, which has already resulted in mass civilian casualties, including women and children, the widespread destruction of infrastructure, and an accelerating humanitarian catastrophe, with half a million people facing starvation.

This is not a collateral crisis. It is a human-made disaster caused by deliberate policies of starvation, forced displacement, and territorial conquest by the far-right government of Israel. The campaign of permanent war has already reduced entire neighbourhoods to rubble. Gaza is on the brink of famine, with humanitarian aid systematically obstructed.

We draw upon the findings of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other UN bodies, which have documented grave breaches of international law, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, collective punishment, and the blocking of lifesaving assistance, with no aid entering Gaza since March 2.

Palestinian workers are among those hardest hit. Thousands have lost their jobs, homes, and access to health care. Permit revocations, border closures, and exploitative labour schemes have stripped entire communities of the right to work and live in dignity. Construction workers who once helped build the economies of Gaza and Israel and key peacebuilding infrastructure are now unemployed or displaced. Such policies of chronic deprivation violate international labour and human rights law.

BWI reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, dignity, and decent work. We reject the logic of endless war, occupation and forced displacement, and call for a just political resolution grounded in international law, the dismantling of the occupation, and full accountability. We further call for the release of all hostages, a step that can only be secured through a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and the end of war.

As a global trade union movement of building, construction and wood workers, we stand in solidarity with all those who endeavour to secure peace, dignity, and the right to a decent life. Therefore, BWI calls on the international community, trade unions worldwide, governments, and world leaders to take urgent action to:

• Secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
• End the illegal occupation and all settlement activity.
• Ensure full and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Justice cannot wait. Gaza has become the front line of a global moral breakdown. If the international community continues to delay action, the consequences will reverberate far beyond the region, undermining the foundations of human rights, justice, and global solidarity.