Gaza _ Palestine News Network
According to data from the "general Federation of Palestine Workers Unions " in gaza, there was an "unprecedented" rise in unemployment and poverty rates in the Sector.
The unemployment rate among Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip reached more than 50 percent, while poverty rates exceeded 80 percent, the EU said in a report thursday.
"gaza workers have been living in difficult and catastrophic circumstances for more than 12 years without radical solutions and only partial solutions and temporary assistance," the report Said.
The labor union attributed the high unemployment and poverty rates in Gaza to a number of factors, most notably the "tightening of the Israeli blockade, the Palestinian division, and the government of the entente´s abandonment of its responsibilities towards gaza."
He noted that the unemployment rate before the blockade was 27.2 per cent, indicating that the new data bore a serious indication of the deteriorating economic situation and the deterioration of the multiple sectors of life in GAZA.
The number of unemployed people reached more than 283 thousand workers during 2018, he said, adding that workers are the largest and most affected by the continued Siege.
He called on the "general Federation of Palestine Trade unions" to break the siege imposed on the Gaza strip, open the crossings and pressure to stop the cuts of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (unrwa), and provide small projects that contribute to alleviating the living conditions in the Sector.
The Israeli occupation has imposed a severe blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2006, closing all border crossings and crossing points that reach Gaza into the outside world through Egypt or the occupied Palestinian territories in 1948, with the exception of opening them partially for the entry of some goods and passengers.
The blockade on the Gaza Strip affected the economic situation of the sector, resulting in a significant decline in economic conditions in the light of the shortage of raw materials, the electricity and fuel Crisis.
