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Unemployment Rate Increases in Palestine

A Palestinian man prepares salted fish to be sold in a market ahead of Eid al-Fitr in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 26, 2022. (AFP)
A Palestinian man prepares salted fish to be sold in a market ahead of Eid al-Fitr in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 26, 2022. (AFP)
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Unemployment Rate Increases in Palestine

A Palestinian man prepares salted fish to be sold in a market ahead of Eid al-Fitr in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 26, 2022. (AFP)
A Palestinian man prepares salted fish to be sold in a market ahead of Eid al-Fitr in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 26, 2022. (AFP)

Figures released on Labor Day have revealed that the number of unemployed Palestinians had increased to 372,000 in 2021, compared to 335,000 in 2020.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a statement noting that unemployment rate among labor force participants in Palestine remained unchanged at about 26% in 2021.

According to the statement, the unemployment rate maintained the same rate for the West Bank and Gaza Strip at about 16% and 47%, respectively.

It said the total labor underutilization rate dropped from about 36% in 2020 to 34% in 2021 (524,200 persons including 72,500 discouraged jobseekers and 26,400 in time-related underemployment).

Bethlehem governorate recorded the highest unemployment rate in the West Bank at about 25%, followed by Jenin and Hebron governorates at about 19% for each, while Jerusalem recorded four percent, the lowest among the West Bank governorates.

In Gaza Strip, Dier al-Balah governorate recorded the highest unemployment rate at about 53%, followed by Khan Yunis at about 51%. While North Gaza governorate reached about 38%, which is the lowest among the Gaza Strip governorates.

The statement said the number of workers in Palestine was around 1.3 million — 630,000 in the West Bank, 259,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 145,000 in Israel and the settlements.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.