Less than 100 thousand people currently remain in Rafah. ILO: Gaza economy collapses by 83.5 percent, children have to work to survive Peace and Security
Eight months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, unemployment in the enclave is approaching 80 percent, and some families are forced to send their children to work. This is according to a new International Labor Organization (ILO) report on the Palestinian labor market and economy on Friday.
ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo told the 112th International Labor Conference in Geneva on Thursday that the labor market in Gaza had “literally collapsed” following the “horrific” Hamas attacks against Israel last October, which caused “ merciless war” in the sector.
“Today Gaza lies in ruins. Livelihoods have been destroyed and jobs are scarce. Labor rights have been eroded,” he said. “This has been the hardest year for Palestinian workers since 1967.” Never before has the situation been so bleak.”
Labor Market
According to the ILO and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Unemployment in the Gaza Strip reached 79.1 percent.
Although not directly affected by the war, the occupied West Bank has also been hit hard by the crisis, with nearly one in three residents unemployed.
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Thus, the average unemployment rate in the occupied Palestinian territories is 50.8 percent. The study authors noted that the true rate is likely even higher because it does not include people who have dropped out of the labor force entirely due to lack of opportunity.
Over the last eight months, overall output in Gaza fell by 83.5 percent and in the West Bank by 22.7 percent, while the OPT economy as a whole contracted by nearly 33 percent.
Healthcare
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday that despite “significant restrictions,” one fully loaded truck and partially equipped trailer carrying medical aid had entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“Materials will be distributed among medical facilities to support the treatment of up to 44 thousand people,” the WHO said in a statement.
In particular, Medicines were delivered to the enclave to treat non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and heart disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. At the same time, even greater volumes of aid are required to flow through the closed Rafah checkpoint, the organization emphasized.
The WHO report states that since October 7, 464 attacks on medical institutions.
“As a result of the attacks, 727 people were killed, 933 were injured, 101 medical facilities and 113 ambulances were damaged,” the World Health Organization reported.
According to WHO, 37 percent of attacks occurred in Gaza City, 23 percent in northern Gaza, and 28 percent in Khan Younis. “WHO calls for respect for international law and the active protection of civilians and the health system,” said the UN agency.
Rafah
Less than 100 thousand people currently remain in Rafah, the UN agency said UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday evening.
This situation arose after the forced evacuation of about a million people who were “on the run again” and moved towards Khan- Younis and Deir el-Balah, OCHA noted, adding that the ongoing fighting has significantly disrupted the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The cessation of fuel supplies through the Rafah checkpoint from Egypt had many negative consequences, the UN Office explained, as fuel shortages affected the transport system, hospitals, sewers, desalination plants and bakeries. “We still have to overcome active hostilities, difficult roads, unexploded ordnance and regular delays,” OCHA said.