The Economic Impact of the Conflict on Israelis and Palestinians
The Israeli unemployment rate is 6.4%, while the Palestinian unemployment rate in the West Bank is 16.5% and 40% in Gaza.
“[A] recent World Bank study predicts that, if the current situation continues throughout 2006, this may be the worst year in the Palestinian economic history. The average Palestinian’s personal income will fall by 40%, and 67% of the population will fall into poverty.”
The sharp rise in Palestinian unemployment is universally viewed as resulting from Israeli policies of closure and movement restrictions. The economic situation in Gaza has been devastated by an air, sea, and land blockade that Israeli officials say was designed to keep Gaza indefinitely on “the brink of collapse.”
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