في عيد العمال .. 372 ألف عاطل عن العمل في فلسطين

Recent reports indicated that the number of the unemployed in Palestine rose to 372 thousand in 2021 compared to less than that by about 40 thousand in the year 2020, reaching 16% in the West Bank and 47% in the Gaza Strip.

The number of workers in Palestine last year reached about 1,034 million; By 630 thousand in the West Bank, 259 thousand in the Gaza Strip, and 145 thousand workers in Israel and settlements, of whom about 747 thousand are wage employees in Palestine (402 thousand employees work in the West Bank, 209 thousand employees work in the Gaza Strip, 116 thousand employees work in Israel, and 20 thousand work in Israel in Israeli settlements), according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

A report indicated that the real daily wage rate for wage employees in the private sector in 2021 was about 97 shekels in Palestine; 42 shekels in the Gaza Strip and 119 shekels in the West Bank.

The General Federation of Palestine Trade Unions warned of the danger of the living conditions in the Gaza Strip. The head of the Federation, in the Gaza Strip, Sami Al-Amsi, said: “We warn of the danger of the intolerable situation in Gaza, especially in light of the occupation’s procrastination, and its failure to adhere to the understandings that were made with the factions regarding improving conditions of citizens.

He added, “Gaza has been living under the Israeli siege imposed on it for 16 years, in a crime the like of which has not been witnessed in history. The poverty rate in Gaza has reached its highest levels, reaching 80 percent among workers, while unemployment has reached more than 55 percent.” He said that the Israeli blockade “disrupted several labor sectors and prevented the entry of raw materials into factories.”

Thousands of Gazans are seeking job opportunities inside the occupied Palestinian territories to escape the specter of unemployment caused by the Israeli siege imposed on the Strip for nearly 16 continuous years.