Arabic
Persian
English
The Israeli regime, through its policies, has driven the economy of the Palestinian territory to the brink of destruction. The economic collapse of Gaza and severe damages to Palestinian agriculture are evidence of this.
Economic Collapse of Gaza
Once, the Gaza Strip had three thriving economic sectors: furniture and home furnishings, clothing, and agriculture. However, with the onset of the Israeli regime’s blockade against this region, Gaza’s trade gateways were closed, and the export level in this area dropped to nearly zero. Before 2007, Gaza exported 1,500 trailers of clothing, 1,800 trailers of agricultural products, and 1,200 trailers of furniture. But in 2016, this amount decreased to 36 trailers of clothing, 41 trailers of agricultural products, and 42 trailers of furniture. With the continuation of the Israeli regime’s blockade against Gaza, the economy of this region has almost come to a halt, such that in 2017, the unemployment rate in Gaza was recorded at 42%.1
Stolen Agriculture
The restrictions imposed by the Israeli regime have caused significant damage to Palestinian agriculture. Some of these damages include:
An annual loss of $700 million due to the prohibition of Palestinians from farming in the fertile Jordan Valley and its cultivation by Israeli settlers.
An annual loss of $100 million resulting from the destruction and uprooting of 2.5 million Palestinian trees by Israelis.
An annual loss of $1.4 billion stemming from the theft of Palestinian land and water resources by the Israeli regime and restrictions on importing high-quality fertilizers.
60% of Palestinian agricultural lands have been lost due to settlements, military zones, walls, and fences established by the Israeli regime since 1995.
Additionally, 80% of the West Bank’s water resources are exploited annually by this regime.
In total, the Israeli regime’s restrictions destroy 2.2 billion of Palestinians' annual agricultural income, which is more than five times their current annual agricultural revenue (0.4 billion)!
1
Uprooting Trees in the Land of Olives
The Israeli regime, since 1967, has uprooted 800,000 Palestinian olive trees, whose expanse is more than 33 times that of New York City’s Central Park. This has wiped out the annual income of $12.3 million for eighty thousand Palestinian families who were economically dependent on olive harvesting and has also seriously damaged Palestine’s environment.2 3 4 5
War and Global Warming
In fact, the Israeli regime is the largest recipient of military aid from the United States ($116 billion between 1946 and 2021), a country that ranks first among the world’s top 9 military spenders in terms of environmental pollution and global warming. The U.S. has achieved this rank by polluting the environment and warming the Earth to such an extent that its military is the world’s largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels! Thus, the Israeli regime, as the most prominent U.S. military client—whose military spending relative to population and GDP exceeds that of the United States—is complicit in this country’s environmental crimes.
The primary victims of the staggering militarism of the U.S. and the Israeli regime, in human and environmental terms, are Palestinians and their land. For example, Gaza has been subjected to aerial attacks and bombings by Israelis in four devastating wars since 2008. In just one of these attacks (May 2021), 290 water structures in Gaza were damaged or destroyed. Additionally, due to damages to waste disposal infrastructure during bombings, 97% of Gaza’s drinking water and 75% of its coastlines have become polluted. Rebuilding these requires significant costs ($485 million) and vast natural resources.
War with the Medical Community in Palestine
One of the issues worth examining regarding the Palestinian cause is the numerous crimes committed by the Israeli regime against Palestinians in the medical field. Disrupting Palestinian medical education and damaging equipment, medical facilities, and healthcare personnel are among these crimes:
Palestinian Healthcare Workers Under Israeli Fire
The Israeli regime has repeatedly damaged Gaza’s equipment, medical facilities, and healthcare personnel by bombarding Gaza, with a glaring example evident in the recent attacks. This regime, just between October 7 and 14, 2023, through airstrikes and shelling of Gaza, martyred 28 healthcare workers in this region, destroyed or damaged 23 ambulances, and injured 8,700 Palestinians. In the meantime, 15 hospitals were damaged, and 2 hospitals (from October 14) were almost destroyed and closed.6
Disruption in Palestine’s Medical Education System
The fake Israeli government has disrupted Palestinian medical education by rejecting requests from Gaza’s Palestinian doctors who seek exit permits to participate in medical events outside this region. For example, in 2018, Gaza Palestinians faced a 98% denial or delay rate in permit approvals by the Israeli regime for participating in training courses, workshops, and medical conferences outside the region, with only 2% of requests approved. 68% of pending permits were effectively voided because the intended training period ended!
سانسور كه همان سرکوب گفتار، ارتباطات عمومی یا سایر اطلاعات است…
Resources
WAFA (آژانس اخبار و اطلاعات فلسطین)، 2017.
No comment