Up to 80% of Gaza factories shut down

An inside view of a factory near Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), the commercial border crossing with Israel to the east of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Gaza City, Gaza on July 12, 2018. ( Abed Zagout – Anadolu Agency )

The Popular Committee For Ending Gaza Siege has said that 80 per cent of factories in Gaza Strip have shut down either partially or completely. It added that there are 300,000 unemployed workers and thousands of jobless graduates, Quds Net News reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, the head of the committee, Jamal al-Khodari MP, said that Israel has tightened its siege of Gaza and it aims “completely destroy the Gazan economy ”.

Read: UN: We are working on improving situation in Gaza

Israel, with the support of Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, has maintained a siege on Gaza for 12-years. Moreover the international community has taken no action to end it.

According to Al-Khodari, Israel prevents all industrial materials from entering Gaza. This has paralysed the industrial sector.He stressed the need for unified Palestinian, Arab and international efforts to end the Israeli siege.

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