RAMALLAH: Production in about half of the private sector establishments in Palestine stopped or declined as a result of an almost total suspension in production of about 56,000 establishments in the Gaza Strip, where internal trade constitutes more than half of the establishments in Gaza Strip, today said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

The estimated number of private sector establishments in Palestine in 2023 is about 176,000 – 56,000 in the Gaza Strip and 120,000 in the West Bank. Internal trade constitutes the largest share of the Gaza Strip, which is about 56% of the total number of establishments, followed by the services sector with a percentage of 30%, and the industry sector with 10%, while other economic activities (construction, transport and storage, information and telecommunications, finance and insurance) constitute 4% of the total number of establishments. The primary results indicated that 29% of total establishments in the West Bank witnessed a decline or stopped in prod
uction during the aggression while most of the establishments in the Gaza Strip stopped production.

The majority of employment in the Gaza Strip has become unemployed, estimated at more than 153,000 employees, except for employees in the health and humanitarian relief sectors, said the PCBS.

The estimated number of employees in Palestine in 2023 is about 522,000 employees (349,000 employees in the West Bank, and 173,000 in the Gaza Strip). As for the percentage distribution of economic activities, internal trade activity in Gaza Strip contributes with the highest share to employment by 45.5% of the total number of employees, followed by service activity by 38.1%, while industry activity contributes with 11.1%, followed by construction activities by 1.7%, information and communication activities by 1.5%, transportation and storage activities by 1.2%, and financial and insurance activities by 0.9%. As a result of the ongoing aggression on Gaza Strip, about 89% of the total number of employees in the Gaza Stri
p have been out of work.

Approximately $1.5 billion is the value of losses through two months of Israeli occupation aggression in Palestine as a result of an almost total suspension in production in the Gaza Strip along with the repercussions of the Israeli occupation aggression on Palestine, of almost $25 million per day, except for direct losses in properties and assets losses, explained the PCBS.

The Palestinian economy has witnessed, during the past years, a recession, especially, in Gaza Strip, due to repeated Israeli occupation aggressions on Gaza over the past years, in addition to the suffocating blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation on Gaza Strip. However, there is no doubt that this current and ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip is not like the previous ones, as it involves systematic destruction of all aspects of life in all its sectors, which has paralyzed the economy in all of Gaza Strip, especially after the destruction of many economic establishments, which cannot be counted or lis
ted until now and up to this moment because of the ongoing violent bombardment of Gaza Strip.

There is certainly a complete destruction of the economic life of all sectors in the Gaza Strip, where the Gaza Strip is operating now at a productive capacity of about 14% through two months of Israeli occupation aggression. Knowingly, this percentage is made up of vital sectors that did not stop completely during the Israeli war on Gaza, such as the health sector, bakeries, and part of the internal trade sector to meet people’s needs for food and medicine.

This impact has not only been reflected in the Gaza Strip but also in the West Bank, even if it was less affected. The impact of the Israeli aggression on Gaza and its repercussions in the West Bank of increasing restrictions and tightening the stranglehold on the governorates of the West Bank, disconnecting communication and roads between the governorates, the obstruction of goods access from abroad, preventing the Palestinians living in 1948 territories enter
the governorates of the West Bank as well as forbidding workers to access their work inside Israel, where all these reasons and other more have paralyzed the economic activity in Palestine. Preliminary estimates have indicated that private sector establishments in Palestine have suffered losses estimated at more than $713 million as of the beginning of the Israeli occupation aggression on the Gaza Strip, which is about $25 million per day, excluding loss of properties and fixed assets, said the PCBS.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the production of economic sectors in the West Bank through two months of Israeli occupation aggression lost about 40% of its production compared to the total of the usual two-month production percentage with an estimated loss of about $1.1 billion through two months. Whereas the Gaza Strip lost 86% of its usual monthly production during the Israeli aggression on Gaza since October, that is equivalent to $407 million, which will, in return, negatively affect Palestine’s genera
l revenues.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA