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signed between the two sides clearly have implications on the climate of the
Palestinian economy, which is affected negatively in terms of the free movement
of goods and people, and also has prevented the implementation of some
planned programs and projects.32
A UN report noted that the amount of direct and indirect losses the Palestinian
economy will suffer as a result of the Israeli policy is estimated at about (3.9)
billion US dollars during the period between 2008 and 2011. Israel’s policy of
closures and siege imposed on Palestine will lead to a loss of about (2.6) billion
US dollars. The amount of material losses suffered by Palestinians due to the
recent war in Gaza is estimated at (1.3) billion US dollars. The report issued by
the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the
status of the Palestinian economy drew attention to the fact that the Palestinian
economy is losing (60 ‐ 80) thousand jobs a year. The total losses in employment
opportunities will reach up to (260,000) jobs during the years between 2008 and
2011.
The report also pointed to the absence of food security for Palestinians, including
(61%) of the total population of Gaza Strip, and (25%) of the total population of
the West Bank, due to the decline in agricultural production over the past decade
by approximately (60%). There is, in addition, the marginalization of the
economic benefits of international grants and aid due to the Israeli‐imposed
siege on the Gaza Strip, Israel’s construction of the Annexation Wall, and the
closure policy in the West Bank.
6 ‐ Israeli Violations of the Right to Health
The embargo imposed on the Gaza Strip caused damage to the health sector, and
remained an obstacle to the further development of the health sector and the
plans laid down for its advancement. During 2010, the Israeli‐imposed siege on
the Gaza Strip continued and the Israeli occupation authorities continued to
prevent the movement of patients from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip hospitals and within Palestine as occupied in 1948
unless they procure an Israeli‐issued permit. During the year 2010, the number of
martyrs of the siege increased to (368) and the number of patients to whom the
Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, Government / 13th West Bank, the Annual Report (May 2009 ‐
May 2011).
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