UN report: At 45%, Gaza unemployment is highest in the world 
Haaretz - The unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip now stands at 45 percent, higher than anywhere else in the world, according to a report released recently by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. more

 Occupation and Aid 
Shir Hever, Alternative Information Center (AIC) - There is no need to go into details, once again, about the extensive damage caused to the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces. We have heard much already of the mounting poverty rate, that GDP has fallen by 9% during the first half of 2006, that 25% of the Palestinian work force is suffering from a severe loss of income due to the sanctions on the PA, and that welfare payments have fallen by US$180 million. Moreover, Per-capita consumption in Palestine has fallen by 12%. Deep poverty is reaching alarming proportions, in Gaza it is already at 79.8%. Additionally, food insecurity is also at very high levels, reaching up to 41% in Gaza. more

 The Gaza Economy 
Sara Roy, Palestine Center Information Brief No. 143 - In one of many reports and accounts of economic life in the Gaza Strip that I have recently read, I was struck by a description of an old man standing on the beach in Gaza throwing his oranges into the sea. The description leapt out at me because it was this very same scene I myself witnessed some 21 years ago during my very first visit to the territory. more

 Palestinians Are Being Robbed by Israel 
Amira Hass in Haaretz - It is evidently difficult to scrub off the sticker that is glued onto the front window. That's why when a new car from Germany or South Korea or the United States rolls onto the packed streets of Gaza or Ramallah, it generally has the big label with thick, red Hebrew letters forming the word "Checked" stuck on its windshield for several months. more

 Palestinian civilians, first victims of the escalation of violence and the withholding of direct financial aid 
Médecins du Monde - Since 1st April, the northern Gaza strip has been the target of relentless shelling by the Israeli military forces, allegedly in response to the firing of Palestinian rockets . Over 2,500 shells have been fired, in addition to air strikes which regularly target civilian areas. Civilian populations are the first victims and it has resulted so far in the death of 16 people and 77 injured. In addition, daily incursions in Nablus since 1st April have incurred 1 casualty, 32 injured and 50 arrests. more

 In Gaza, there's no milk, no sugar and tomatoes are rotting on the vines 
Arnon Regular in Haaretz - "In a few days there'll be a flour shortage, and if that happens there'll be a conflagration here - but it will be directed against the Israelis, not Hamas," Deputy Minister of Economics in the Palestinian Authority, Nasser Saraj, said yesterday about the closure of the Karni border crossing. The crossing has been completely closed since February 21, and since the beginning of the year it has not been open for more than 12 days. more

 Can the Palestinian Economy be Revived? 
Steve Schifferes, BBC News Economics Reported - Since the Al-Aqsa intifada began in 2000, poverty and unemployment rates have risen, and the economy has become increasingly dependent on foreign aid. more

 One Big Prison: New Report Warns Against Continued Strangulation of Gaza Strip after Disengagement 
B’Tselem - Israel has cut off the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world to such an extent that it is easier for Palestinians in Israel or the West Bank to visit relatives in prison than visit a relative in Gaza. This is one conclusion of the 100-page report that B’Tselem and HaMoked publish today. One Big Prison documents the ongoing violations of human rights and international law resulting from Israel’s restrictions on the movement of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, Israel, and the rest of the world. The report also warns against Israel’s attempt to avoid its responsibility toward residents of the Gaza Strip following disengagement. more

 Palestinian Malnutrition at African Levels Under Israeli Curbs 
Ben Russell in the UK Independent - Malnutrition rates in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank are as bad as those in sub-Saharan Africa, British Legislators said yesterday. They warned that the Israeli security fence around the occupied territories was “destroying the Palestinian economy and creating widespread poverty”. more

 UN Figures Show Economic Crisis Leading to ‘Human Catastrophe’ in West Bank and Gaza 
UN Report in 2002 - Releasing the first international economic statistics on the Palestinian economy since Israel reoccupied the West Bank earlier this year, the United Nations today reported that rising poverty and unemployment could spell a “human catastrophe” for the region. more