Rights NGO: Israel destroyed 250 economic facilities in Gaza in 25 days

Israel has destroyed 250 economic facilities during its war on the Gaza Strip, a human rights organisation told Anadolu news agency.

Speaking to the news agency, Rami Abdo, the director of the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights, said that the Observatory’s teams in the Gaza Strip had monitored the destruction of 250 economic facilities, including 180 factories, since the start of the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip on 7 July.

Abdo pointed out that the losses incurred by the economic sector in the Gaza Strip are unprecedented, stressing that Israel has dragged Gaza’s economy decades backwards.

He said: “We are talking about unemployment rates amounting to more than 40 per cent and an already deteriorated economic situation. We are witnessing a war that is destroying the economy completely, turning factories into piles of rubble and destruction.”

According to Abdo, the direct losses that have befallen the economic sector in Gaza amount to nearly $2 billion. However, he added that the world will witness even graver figures after the war is over and will have to face another war of destruction and unemployment. “We need billions to revive what has been destroyed,” he said.

Israel imposed a strict siege against the Gaza Strip after the Islamic resistance movement Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, further tightening the siege after the movement took control of the enclave in 2007.

Israel fully controls the Karam Abu Salem crossing, the only commercial crossing into the Strip, and prevents many materials, mainly building materials, from entering the Strip, which has caused heavy economic losses in recent years.

On 7 July, Israel launched an aggressive war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of responding to Hamas rockets fired towards Israeli towns. The assault has so far led to the killing of more than 1,400 Palestinians and injuring of over 8,000 more. The Israeli raids have also caused the destruction of 5,238 housing units and partially damaged 30,050 housing units, of which 4,374 units have become uninhabitable, according to preliminary information released by the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works.