Israel tightens security on Palestinian West Bank workers

The Israeli authorities have ratcheted up security measures on Palestinian laborers who work at the Barkan settlement in the occupied West Bank.

On Sunday, two Israeli settlers were killed and a third was injured in a shooting attack inside an industrial zone near the Jewish-only Barkan settlement.

Laborers who spoke to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday said they now had to undergo hours-long searches when going to work at Israeli factories located in the settlement.

"Before the shooting [on Sunday], we would enter [Barkan] in 15 minutes; now I have to wait at the entrance of the industrial zone for an hour and a half before I can to get to work," Muayed Amer, a Palestinian laborer, told Anadolu Agency.

Laborer Mohamed Hassan, for his part, said workers were now forced to wait “for hours” -- even though they had work permits -- until being allowed to enter their places of employment on the settlement.

Following Sunday’s shooting, the assailant -- a former Palestinian worker from the West Bank city of Tulkarm -- managed to flee the scene and is now the target of a manhunt by police.