Ahmer Khan

Carpenters, bricklayers and painters waited in line at a college campus in the Indian city of Lucknow this week in hope of being selected for better-paid jobs in Israel, with most playing down concerns about working in a conflict zone.

Israel's construction industry has been calling for the recruitment of foreign workers to fill jobs previously occupied by about 80,000 Palestinian workers barred from entering Israel since the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group in October.