UN Report:

Without Israeli Occupation, Palestinian Economy Doubles

Rasa - The economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory could easily double the gross domestic product (GDP) it generates now, while unemployment and poverty could recede significantly, without the Israeli occupation, United Nations said in a new report.

News ID: 423302

Date: 07 September 2016 - 20:46

RNA - The document detailing the “staggering economic cost” of Israeli occupation was released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), WAFA reported.

“The Palestinian economy would be at least twice as large without Israeli occupation,” the findings revealed.

Among the key reasons for the high unemployment and staggering poverty the agency cites “confiscation of Palestinian land, water and other natural resources.” It adds 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 has 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 say 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 following tightening of the Gaza blockade, in place since 2007, made the things even worse, the report states. It resulted in additional civilian data-x-items being banned after labeled “dual-use”, meaning they can be also implemented for causing ham.

The crisis resulted in additional severe shortages of medical equipment as well as serious reduction in water supplies in the occupied territories, the UN finds. The problem also contributed to the rising infant mortality, with almost 20 percent out of 1000 live births. The trend is labeled “unprecedented” and found only in countries “affected by HIV epidemics”

In addition UNCTAD points out that the expanding settlement policies by the Israeli authorities are contributing to the Palestinian plight.

“There are now 142 settlements in the West Bank, bringing the number of Israeli settlers to over one fifth of the Palestinian population. This expansion undermines the prospects for a two-State solution,” UNCTAD concluded.

111/847/C