Indians Replacing Palestinian Workers in Israel's Building Sector

High earnings a big draw; many unfazed by war in Gaza and surrounding area

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BEER YAAKOV, Israel - Wearing a safety belt, helmet and work boots, Mr Raju Nishad navigates the scaffolding, hammering blocks that will form part of a building in a new neighbourhood in the central Israeli town of Beer Yaakov.

While he and other Indians working alongside him do not look out of place on the expansive construction site, they are relative newcomers to Israel's building industry.

They are part of an Israeli government effort to fill a void left by tens of thousands of Palestinian construction workers barred from entering Israel since Hamas' unprecedented Oct 7, 2023 attack.

If that attack had not happened, this site, with its slowly emerging high-rise towers, homes, roads and pavements, would have teemed with labourers speaking Arabic unlike the Hindi, Hebrew and even Mandarin of today.

The Hamas attack triggered the deadliest war yet between Israel and militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It later spread to include other Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen, and even direct confrontation with the Islamic Republic itself.

None of this deterred Mr Nishad, 35, from coming to Israel.

"There's nothing to be afraid of here," he said, despite several air raid warnings that have sent him running for the shelters.