The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed in its report on Sunday that during the past decade, the per capita economic losses in Gaza has reached about USD9,000 due to the long-term closure and the military operations to which the Gaza Strip is subject.
A United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report issued on November 25, 2020, concluded that the economic cost of the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip during the past decade is estimated at 16.7 percent billion.
The report indicated that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip is still among the highest in the world. After it reached 23.6 percent in 2005, in 2020, it reached 49 percent, while the per capita share of the GDP shrank by 27 percent.
On its website, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stated: “Poverty rates also jumped from 40 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2020. The poverty gap increased as well from 14 percent to 20 percent and the cost of lifting the Gaza population out of poverty quadrupled, from USD209 million to USD838 million.”
The report stated that in 2020 the monthly rate of trucks carrying goods entering Gaza was about 7,000. This number is not enough for half of Gaza’s needs, taking into account the population increase since 2005 and the number of trucks entering that year.
The Monitor added: “Before the blockade was imposed on the Gaza Strip, the monthly rate of Palestinians traveling via Erez crossing, run by Israel, was about 30,000 travelers.”
Further, the report confirmed that Rafah crossing operations were mainly affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus. It was closed for extended days, while hundreds of thousands of patients, students, and businesspeople remained to wait for the opening of the crossing.
“As for the health sector, it remains the most affected, showing a clear indication of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions. In addition to the acute shortage of medicines and medical equipment, hospitals and primary care centers are still operating at low levels of capacity.
The situation further exacerbated after the outbreak of COVID-19. The ongoing arrangements for holding the general Palestinian elections require local, regional and international mobility to end the blockade and provide guarantees that it will not be repeated in the future if it was lifted,” the report revealed.
It added: “The right approach to ensure the upcoming elections' success is the issuance of a binding international resolution to end the blockade, which international legal references agree to constitute war crimes. Guarantees should be provided that the blockade will not be repeated, the will of the Palestinian voters will be respected, and a peaceful and democratic circulation is ensured in a way that achieves stability and prosperity for the Palestinians.”
