UN: Without ’Israeli’ Occupation, Palestinian Economy would Double
Local Editor
In a critical report, the UN development body [UNCTAD] described the ways "Israeli" occupation of Gaza and West Bank has been preventing the Palestinian economy from recovery and getting twice as big as it is now.
The document detailing the "staggering economic cost" of "Israeli" occupation was released on Tuesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD].
"The Palestinian economy would be at least twice as large without "Israeli" occupation," the findings reveal.
Among the key reasons for the high unemployment and staggering poverty the agency cited "confiscation of Palestinian land, water and other natural resources." It added that "restrictions on the movement of people and goods; destruction of assets and the productive base;" also played a major role here.
According to the latest estimations by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics nearly 27 percent of people of the autonomy are currently without job. Meanwhile UNCTAD revealed that over 66 percent of the Palestinians were food-insecure last year.
"The continuous process of de-agriculturalization and de-industrialization" has contributed to a severe degradation of Palestinian economy, according to the UN report. The paper states that in Gaza "producers are denied access to half of the cultivable area and 85 per cent of fishery resources."
The West Bank area is facing a similar problem, according to the UN. In the so-called area C, which constitutes over 60 percent of West Bank "more than 66 per cent of its grazing land, is not accessible to Palestinian producers".
The figures published in the report added that the "Israeli" occupation of the Area C "costs the Palestinian economy the equivalent of 35 per cent of GDP [$4.4 billion in 2015]."
The "Israeli" military campaign in 2014 whose proclaimed goal, was to prevent rocket attacks on its territories from the Palestinian areas delivered another blow to the financial recovery of the Palestinians.
The following tightening of the Gaza blockade, in place since 2007, made the things even worse, the report stated.
In addition, UNCTAD pointed out that the expanding settlement policies by the "Israeli" authorities are contributing to the Palestinian plight.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
