GAZA, Dec 7 (NNN-WAFA) – The monthly economic loss in the Gaza Strip has grown to 100 million U.S. dollars, because of the continuing deterioration, a Palestinian committee said Friday.
“The crises of the economic sector are directly caused by Israeli siege imposed on the coastal enclave since 2007,” said Jamal al-Khudari, chairman of the Popular Committee to Challenge Israeli Siege.
“4,000 factories, workshops, shops and companies have closed or shrunk by more than 80 percent of their operational capacity, during the years of the Israeli siege,” he told reporters.
Al-Khudari said, the remaining companies, shops, factories, and economic facilities are currently operating with less than 50 percent of their operational capacity, causing high rates of poverty and unemployment. 85 percent of Gazans live under the poverty line.
Gaza Strip is home to more than two million Palestinians. Besides the high rates of poverty and unemployment, the Gaza Strip suffers from a severe power and water crisis, as well as, severe economic and health deterioration.– NNN-WAFA
