Israeli army destroyed over 6,000 lodgings since start of uprising

The Israeli army has totally or partially demolished 6,177 lodgings in the Palestinian territories since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (uprising) in September 2000.

This came in a report by the Palestinian embassy in Rabat to the 4th International Forum on Urban Poverty, currently held in Marrakesh.

The cost of the reconstruction of these lodgings is estimated at $ 38 million, while the losses of other sectors related to housing cannot be estimated for the time being, the report says.

In a bid to worsen the impoverishing of the Palestinian population Israel banned the import of construction material whether via the Israeli ports or the passages with Jordan and Egypt.

Palestinian losses entailed by the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian industrial sector stand at $ 1.14 billion, including $ 905,34 million in direct losses and $ 204,75 million in indirect losses, the report says, adding these losses will continue to have negative repercussions over the four coming years. They will cause an 80 percent reduction in the sector's growth rate.

The Israeli blockade also sent joblessness rates high at 70 percent of the Palestinian active population, a fact that worsens poverty in urban and rural areas, the report notes, adding more than 50 percent of the Palestinian people live under the poverty line.

The Israeli army also prevents 150,000 Palestinian workers from going to their workplaces inside Israel, the report says. Some 620,000 Palestinians work in the Hebrew state.