US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen criticized Israel for withholding work permits and preventing travel of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, saying the measures harm both sides and threaten to spark a broader regional conflict.
The American Secretary said in an interview that took place late yesterday, Thursday, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she is attending the G20 ministerial meeting, “We do not want to see the conflict spread to other regions. Israel is a friend and we talk to it regularly. If we see something that worries us, we tell our partners what we think about it.”
Last Tuesday, Yellen told reporters that she had written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express her concerns, and welcomed Israel’s agreement to resume transferring taxes to the Palestinian Authority.
While the Israeli economy is experiencing a crisis as a result of the aggression on Gaza, as it depletes the state’s resources, the World Bank estimates that the Palestinian economy shrank by 6.4% last year, contrary to expectations of growth of 3.2% due to the aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The situation in Gaza is much worse, with more than 80% of housing units destroyed or damaged and about two million people displaced.
Yellen said that the restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinian movement and trade were also severely damaging the Palestinian economy, halting a number of activities such as construction projects in Israel by creating a shortage of workers.
The Palestinian economy is exposed to shocks
About two weeks ago, the World Bank said that the Palestinian economy is exposed to one of the largest shocks in history, as a result of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and its repercussions in the West Bank.
The bank stated that the gross domestic product in Gaza fell by more than 80% in the fourth quarter of 2023, and by 22% in the West Bank during the same period.
The bank said that poverty was already high in Gaza before the outbreak of war, as more than half of families relied on aid as their main source of income. At present, almost all residents of Gaza live in extreme poverty and face a severe lack of food security, and poverty levels are also rising in the West Bank, due to the marked economic slowdown and constrained public financial capabilities, which affects the effectiveness of protection programs. Social.
