Palestinian economic losses from latest crisis top $1 billion

Since the onset of the most recent crisis in the Middle East, the Palestinian economy has suffered losses of $1.15 billion, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday in Gaza.

Presented by UN Special Coordinator Terje Roed-Larsen, the report estimates that each day, the Palestinian economy is losing $8.6 million as a result of the continuing conflict and closure policy. Additional losses of hundreds of millions of dollars are being incurred as a result of damage to infrastructure, the cost of caring for over 11,000 injured Palestinians, fiscal losses and other factors.

The Special Coordinator's report highlights World Bank statistics which find that 32 per cent of the population is now living in poverty -- a 50 per cent increase since the onset of the crisis.

Roed-Larsen said that for hundred of thousands of Palestinians, hopes for peace had been replaced by anger and uncertainty about their future. Pointing out that this contributed to instability and violence, he emphasized that "security cannot be built on uncertainty; peace cannot be built on anger."

The closure policy, according to the Special Coordinator, had been "colossally counterproductive" because it was detrimental to Israel's security interests and very damaging to Palestinian society. Noting that there had been some easing of the closures in the last weeks, causing a slight decline in unemployment rates, he nevertheless estimated that there were a quarter of a million unemployed people in the Palestinian Territory, amounting to 38 per cent of the workforce.

Roed-Larsen, who has personally urged top Israeli officials to lift the closures, stressed that the fiscal situation of the Palestinian authority should be at the top of the international community's agenda. He announced that he would be travelling to a number of capitals, along with World Bank and International Monetary Fund officials, to raise awareness of the urgency of the issue.

The Special Coordinator also urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint and caution during the coming days and weeks, emphasizing that at this stage, violence would only produce a "lose-lose" situation, and encouraged the parties to resume their dialogue as soon as possible.