Palestinian economy could double without ‘occupation’

Several military training sites belonging to different political movements in the Gaza Strip were reportedly hit with Israeli fire during the predawn hours of Tuesday, according to local Palestinian and Israeli army sources, with the army saying they were responding to gunfire directed at Israeli soldiers stationed near the northern border of the besieged coastal enclave.

“All of these studies actually are on the conservative side, because everybody is scared to be realistic, to assess the impact of the Israeli occupation”, Elkhafif said.

The official could not say if the group would be given access to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to which Israel controls all passage except across the largely closed Gaza-Egypt border. In a sense, without occupation, the Palestinian economy would have been able to produce twice as much as it is producing today.

“The Palestinians are left with no choice but to import their own water from Israel to cover 50 per cent of their consumption”, it said.

Palestinian farmers harvest olives with an Israeli settlement in the background.

According to the findings of the Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in 2015, Israel withheld Palestinian fiscal revenue for four months, donor aid declined and Israeli settlements continued to expand into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while poverty and unemployment remained high.

Per capita income remains below its pre-2014 level, the report said. “Food insecurity affects two-thirds of the Palestinian population”.

UNCTAD economists consider trade to be the cornerstone upon which economic development can be built.

The list includes raw materials, agricultural fertilizers, telecommunications equipment, steel, pipes, spare parts and other capital goods.

The blockade and attacks on the Gaza Power Plant in 2014 have further deepened Gaza’s electricity crisis, exacting a heavy toll on every aspect of public and private life.

“A shocking indicator of the grim situation in Gaza is the rising infant mortality rate, (which) has risen for the first time in 50 years”, the report said. He called the closure “collective punishment” for which there must be accountability.