– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi – The Palestinian economy has collapsed since Israel’s attack on Gaza on October 7, 2023. The Palestinian Center for Statistics reports a one-third drop in GDP. Israel’s policy aims to erase Palestinian existence using genocide and scorched-earth tactics to expand its territory.
The OIC Media Observatory states that Israel is strangling the Palestinian economy through tax delays, trade restrictions, and revoked work permits. The Palestinian Authority struggles to pay salaries as Israel withholds funds. Strict travel bans and checkpoints further cripple daily life.
The World Bank reported a 23% economic contraction in the West Bank in early 2024. Trade and services declined by 22% and 23%, while construction and manufacturing fell by 42% and 30%. The Palestinian Ministry of Finance states that Israel deducted 2.83 billion shekels ($797 million) from Palestinian funds between October 2023 and August 2024, averaging 257 million shekels ($72 million) monthly. These deductions punish the Palestinian Authority for supporting Gaza, especially in health and education.
Israel withholds over 7 billion shekels ($1.97 billion) in tax revenues collected under the Oslo Agreement, meant for the Palestinian Treasury. The World Bank reports that Israel cut Palestinian workers from 177,000 to 27,000 since the war began. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics records an 80% unemployment rate in Gaza and 35% in the West Bank, reaching a total of 51%.
Palestinian Labor Minister Dr. Enas Al-Attari states that expelling Palestinian workers caused a monthly loss of 1.5 billion shekels ($423 million). A Palestinian Policy Network report identifies four Israeli strategies to control Palestinian labor: hiring Palestinians only for low-wage jobs, ensuring labor shortages in Palestine, expanding illegal settlements while shrinking the Palestinian economy, and arbitrarily revoking work permits.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that 793 Israeli checkpoints and barriers restrict movement in the West Bank. These include 89 fully manned checkpoints, 149 partially manned ones, 158 earth piles, 196 roadblocks, 104 concrete blocks, and 97 additional obstacles. At least 40% (316 of 793) block access between Palestinian towns and villages. Palestinians face long detours as 85% of the separation wall runs through the West Bank.
The wall isolates 150 Palestinian communities, cutting off their land. Since October 2023, Israel has locked 69 agricultural gates, preventing farmers from tending their crops, leading to major revenue losses. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese states that Israel is erasing the Palestinian presence using a scorched-earth policy. In her October 2024 UN report, she wrote, “The State of Israel is predicated on the goal of Palestinian erasure; its entire political system is directed towards this goal.”
