Restrained development & poverty lead to $57 bn economic impact in Palestinian territories

Ever since Israel gained control of a portion of the West Bank, the region has languished under extreme poverty and has remained underdeveloped for over two decades, according to a report published on Wednesday by the United Nations trade and development body, UNCTAD. With an economic toll of nearly $57.7 billion, the study indicated that this cost is equal to three and a half times the 2019 GDP of the occupied territories of Palestine. The reports also highlight that Palestine is witnessing a high poverty rate and the minimum cost of eliminating poverty in the West Bank has now reached $428, which is six times higher than the estimate between 1998 and 2007 ($73 million).

Calling for the Palestine territories to be reconnected into a "fully-fledged state," UNCTAD Director of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, Richard Kozul-Wright, said, "We're talking about the reproduction of despair in the West Bank and Gaza". UNCTAD Economist Rami Alazzeh said the Israeli closure policy was "multilayered". The roads located between the West Bank, Gaza, Israel, and the border with Jordan were completely blocked, and the Israeli government has also built 600 barriers, including checkpoints.

In Palestine, arrested development and poverty take a $57 billion economic toll in West Bank

The restrictions imposed by Israel on the West Bank resulted in a drastic fall in the living standards of people and largely affected the populace's poorer sections. The reports suggest that without the Israeli closures, restrictions, and military operations, the poverty rate in the West Bank would have been marginally lower compared to today. According to the United Nations report, the West Bank's GDP would have been 44% higher in 2019 than it is now.

Over the years, the unemployment rate and poverty have dramatically increased in the West Bank. Creating a harmful dependence on the West Bank, many Palestine residents sought employment in Israel and its settlements in the West Bank. However, without it, the West Bank would have reached an unemployment rate as high as the besieged Gaza Strip. Reports suggest that even with employment in Israel, the poverty rate in the West Bank has not been eliminated since 1999.

The report called for a lifting of all the restrictions imposed on the occupied Palestinian territory and for reconnecting it with East Jerusalem, and for enabling the Palestinian public and private sectors to establish and start agricultural, industrial, commercial, and mining businesses in the area. It is necessary to mention here that 60 per cent of the West Bank area is where Palestinians are not currently allowed to operate businesses. The reports state that Palestinian economic development will continue to be arrested and its cost to the people will continue to grow. stressed Kozul-Wright laid stress on creating jobs, which is "critical to overcoming the kind of poverty levels that we see in the West Bank".

Image: AP