“The little economy that people had is over”

Job losses, unpaid salaries: since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, Palestinians in the West Bank have been facing an unprecedented economic crisis.

In the occupied Palestinian territories, the economic situation is increasingly catastrophic. Palestinians who worked in Israel no longer have permits, no salary for two months and the start of the war with Hamas, no unemployment compensation is paid to them. The others are mostly employed by the Palestinian Authority, which is based in Ramallah. But it is struggling to pay salaries, in a context of recession where economic production collapsed by more than a third during the month following the start of the war. In this context, the West Bank is sinking into crisis.

Like the 130,000 Palestinians from the West Bank who worked in Israel, Tarek, a father, saw his work permit revoked. A construction worker, he sinks into debt, can no longer pay his bills and no longer has any source of income: “Frankly, for more than sixty days, the economic situation has been untenable: I no longer have a job. And the little economy that people had is over, there is nothing left. Those who have gold, from their wives for example, they sold it. Really, it’s very, very complicated.”

22 million euros in losses every day

Like this worker, many can no longer make ends meet. Not to mention the snowball effect on the entire Palestinian economy. Mohammad is the owner of a small supermarket: “Before, we didn’t have much of a problem getting credit. But now, we had to set a limit. Because we can no longer take a loan here, another there, another one after that. So that before, we had no problem helping people, we especially knew that the workers were paid at the end of the month. But now, really, there is no more hope.”

With the restrictions on movement and travel, the unpaid salaries of Palestinian civil servants and the loss of jobs of all these workers who used to go to Israel, it is a “disaster”, explains Ubai al Abudeh, director of Bisan, an economic and social rights organization: “We’re talking about major disruptions to life here, and a consequent impact on the Palestinian economy, obviously. But all of this seems miniscule when you see what people have to endure in Gaza, because what’s happening there- bottom, it is the genocide of the Palestinian people.” According to the Palestinian Ministry of Economy, losses amount to around 22 million euros per day.