Saturday, July 7, 2007

Deleting Gaza's Economy

Enough Border Closure (felesteen.ps)

On July 4, 2007: Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement issued a report, Commercial Paralysis: Deleting Gaza’s Economy from the Map

After three weeks of a complete ban on importing commercial goods to Gaza, the industrial sector in Gaza is collapsing. Over 2,900 factories (out of 3,900) have shut down due to the shortage of raw materials, banned from entering Gaza with the closure of Karni crossing.


¨ 75% of Gaza's factories have been paralyzed due to the shortage of raw materials.

¨ Israel’s Customs Authority deleted from its computers the customs code used to identify goods entering Gaza, with the exception of humanitarian goods, such as donations of food, medicine and medical equipment. Gaza is closed to the importation of goods.

¨ The price of raw materials for household and industrial consumption has risen between 15% and 34%.

¨ Approximately 30,000 factory workers stand to lose their jobs (factory workers constitute 10% of those working in Gaza, and together they support approximately 210,000 dependents).

¨ The policy of closure is turning Gaza residents into charity dependents.


Read also this report from Oxfam's Michael Bailey on the border situation between Israel and Gaza

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