Gaza Rate of Unemployment Doubled Since Start of «Israeli» Siege

Local Editor

The General Federation of Palestinian Labor Unions reported, on Thursday, that the unemployment rate in the besieged Gaza Strip has doubled since Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade 12 years ago.

The federation said, in a statement, that while the unemployment rate had reached 27.2% before the blockade, it has now reached 50%, including 283,000 workers considered unemployed in 2018.

The statement added that the poverty rate has reached 80%, indicating critical deterioration in the standard of living and economic performance in the Gaza Strip.

The federation urged immediate solutions to the high unemployment rate among Palestinian workers in the besieged enclave, which would only be possible by ending the Israeli blockade, therefore reviving the economy and opening the borders to facilitate the movement Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

There are three crossings into the Gaza Strip; two are controlled by the “Israeli” entity and one by Egypt. The Gaza-“Israel” crossings are the “Erez” crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, which is specifically for pedestrians, and “Kerem Shalom” in the southern Gaza Strip for the entry of goods and fuel. The Gaza-Egypt crossing is the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, but is often closed and lacks infrastructure for it to be a main commercial crossing.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, had said in a statement in August that the Gaza Strip is "on the verge of total collapse," pointing out that half of Gaza's population suffers from unemployment.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team