Palestinian minister warns about economic crisis and unemployment

Palestinian minister warns about economic crisis and unemployment
Palestinian minister warns about economic crisis and unemployment

Speaking at the 121st session of the International Labor Conference (ILO) in Geneva, the official stated that unemployment and poverty rates are greater than 50 percent.

Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive, on October 7 of last year, we have lost more than half a million jobs, he stressed, quoted by the official Wafa news agency.

The Government is working on an emergency response plan, whose top priority is the continuity of employment of thousands of workers, he explained.

Last week, the ILO and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed in a joint report that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip reached 79.1 percent and in the West Bank 32 percent.

These data raise the average rate to 50.8 percent, although they do not include those who completely abandoned the active population as job prospects were unattainable, the text explained.

In addition, he added that the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 83.5 percent in the first territory and 22.7 in the second.

Our new bulletin shows that the war in the Strip claimed the lives of many people and caused a desperate humanitarian situation, accompanied by widespread devastation of economic activities and livelihoods, the ILO stressed.

In February, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development warned that the coastal enclave will need billions of dollars and take decades to reverse the unprecedented destruction of its economy and infrastructure.

The agency noted in a report, which quantifies the loss of GDP, the recovery times and the lasting effects on poverty in Gaza due to Israeli aggression.

The institution highlighted that even with the most optimistic scenario of 10 percent annual growth, only in 2035 would the economic levels of 2006 be reached, when Israel imposed a blockade on that area after the Islamic Resistance Movement came to power there ( Hamas).

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