UNRWA Says Israel’s Blockade of Gaza Main Cause for Unemployment

Rising unemployment in the Israeli blockaded Gaza.

Gaza, MINA – The three consecutive Israeli wars on the Gaza Strip and the heavy restrictions Israel continues to impose on the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza are the main source of unemployment, WAFA reported, citing the latest UNRWA report.

In a special report published Sunday, UNRWA said along with the internal political divide, these factors have further crushed the enclave’s formerly trade-based economy and exacerbated extreme poverty, food insecurity and hopelessness, with over %46.6 of Gaza’s workforce and %71 of women unemployed as of the third quarter of 2017.

Business analysts and economists are raising the alarm over rising unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip amid rapidly deteriorating economic conditions in the besieged coastal enclave.

Unemployment in Gaza has reached 46.6% in the third quarter of 2017, the highest it has been since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

This unemployment rate reflects what we know to be true in Gaza: there are less opportunities, especially for young people, and less hope for building better future for Gaza and for the region as a whole. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)