A Palestinian couple looks for things to salvage from their destroyed home in Beit Hanoun (August 2014)
Source: Al Jazeera
World Bank Reports
- Israeli and Palestinian Experts Draw Up Road Map to Save Palestinian Economy, March 2017 – Former Israeli ambassador to South Africa Ilan Baruch who was Moderator of panel discussion during the launch of the reports, stated: “There has been a deliberate Israeli policy to create deficiency,” he said. “The international community has to get involved – not as a donor but to exert pressure.”
- World Bank Report, May 2015 – Gaza Economy on the Verge of Collapse, Youth Unemployment Highest in the Region at 60 Percent
- World Bank Report, October 2013 – West Bank and Gaza: Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy: land use restrictions imposed on Palestinians by Israeli Occupation costs Palestinian economy US$3.4 billion per year.
- World Bank Report, March 2013 – Fiscal Challenges and Long Term Economic Costs: Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee
- World Bank Report, April 2012 – Towards Economic Sustainability of a Future Palestinian State: Promoting Private Sector-led Growth
- World Bank Online, October 2011 – Lack of jobs, mobility restrictions increase poverty in the West Bank and Gaza
US Embassy Cable Leaks
- Leaked cable from US Embassy in Israel: Limited food, fuel and medicine; Infrastructure under stress, Sept 2009: “Access to Gaza for goods through Israeli crossing points remains severely constrained. While there are adequate stocks of basic food items in Gaza, the lack of variety and continuing price increases are negatively impacting people’s health. A lack of medicine is crippling the health sector. The water and electricity grids, while restored to 2008 levels, suffer from a lack of supplies and basic maintenance.” An archive of the cable is also here.
- Leaked cable from US Embassy in Israel: Cashless in Gaza?, Nov 2008: Israeli officials admit to their US counterparts that they intended to keep the Gazan economy functioning at a level barely sufficient to avoid a humanitarian crisis or collapse of the entire Gazan economy: “Israeli officials have confirmed to Embassy officials on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis” and “Israeli officials have confirmed to econoffs on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse”. An archive of the cable is also here.
United Nations Agency and Expert Reports
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Country Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, November 2016 – The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade | November 2016
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, September 2016 – The staggering economic cost of occupation: The Palestinian economy would be at least twice as large without Israeli occupation, UNCTAD report says
- United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, November 2016 – Israel is denying Palestine’s right to development, says UN human rights expert
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, July 2015 – Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people:
Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Without “herculean efforts” Gaza continues to predicted to be uninhabitable by 2020. “Since the blockade initiated in 2007, exports from Gaza have been almost completely banned” and “imports and transfers of cash [have been] severely restricted and the flow of all but the most basic humanitarian goods suspended”. In Gaza “socioeconomic conditions are at their lowest point since 1967” and “The recurrent military operations and economic siege have rendered Palestinians in Gaza more impoverished than they were before the Oslo Accords” in the 1990s. - United Nations , August 2012 – Gaza in 2020
A liveable place?: To ensure that Gaza in 2020 will be “a liveable place,” on-going herculean efforts will be required.
Other Reports
- A Beginner’s Guide To The Recent Outbreak Of Fighting In Israel/Palestine, Michael Brull, New Matilda, Oct 2015. Outlines how Israel targets Gaza’s economy by preventing Gaza’s export (not just import) of goods to the rest of the world.
- C. Ross Anthony, Daniel Egel, Charles P. Ries, Craig Bond, Andrew Liepman, Jeffrey Martini, Steven Simon, Shira Efron, Bradley D. Stein, Lynsay Ayer, Mary E. Vaiana, The Rand Corporation, June 2015 – The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Also see their variable conflict scenario calculator: Calculating the Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- $6B in damage: Gaza economy reels from four weeks of war
- Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, August 2004 – The Wall and Increased Impoverishment of the Palestinian Population
- Middle East Monitor, May 2014 – While the global BDS movement grows, in the West Bank, BDS is virtually impossible
