The Palestinian Ministry of National Economy said that Bethlehem Governorate (south of the West Bank) has incurred economic losses estimated at millions of shekels in various sectors, especially the tourism sector, since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, on the seventh of last October, due to the closures and continuous raids. .
In a statement seen by Al Jazeera Net, the Ministry’s Directorate in Bethlehem stated that the Council of Churches decided to prevent Christmas celebrations this year, and limited it only to official ceremonies in Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour.
She explained that the tourism sector was damaged by 100%, which led to the closure of restaurants and the disruption of tourist hotels, and the volume of tourism losses to the governorate reached millions of shekels.
In the context of economic sectors, Deputy Director of the Economics Directorate in Bethlehem Governorate, Muhammad Hamida, reported that the production capacity of industrial facilities in the governorate decreased by 40%, and the stone and saws sector recorded a decrease of 60%.
He added that the commercial services sector was also damaged by 60%, and that revenues in all sectors decreased by 70%, and the import and export movement decreased, as the import movement recorded a decrease of 50% and the export movement by 62%.
In the agricultural sector, Hamida reported that this sector was greatly damaged as a result of the occupation preventing citizens from entering their lands to pick olives, as dozens of farmers have not been able to pick olives yet, and farmers have also been harmed as a result of their inability to reach their lands to cultivate them.
As for the ongoing occupation incursions into the governorate, significant property losses were recorded, including: closing two printing presses in the governorate, destroying their contents, and seizing them.
Hamida added that these raids recorded losses in citizens’ homes estimated at thousands of shekels as a result of destroying or blowing them up.
He reported that the occupation forces were breaking citizens’ cars and stealing their parts in Beit Jala, which is 10 kilometers from the occupied city of Jerusalem.
decreased by 85%
At the end of last month, data from the Palestinian Ministry of Economy revealed a decline in the performance of 85% of economic establishments as a result of the ongoing invasions and raids carried out by the Israeli occupation in Palestinian cities, camps and towns.
The Ministry’s “Economic Observatory” showed a decline in the average number of workers in 41% of economic establishments in the West Bank as a result of the economic deterioration in various sectors of the economy against the backdrop of the repercussions of the ongoing Israeli aggression, with the almost complete halt of production in the Gaza Strip.
The data indicated that most establishments witnessed a decline in monthly working days by an average of between 36% and 42%, while the production capacity of 91% of industrial establishments deteriorated by an average of 43%.
According to the Economic Observatory, 77% of establishments suffer difficulty in moving and distributing goods between cities as a result of the incursions and closures implemented by the Israeli occupation, at a time when 16% of establishments were forced to close completely or partially, in addition to the decline in monthly sales for 97% of establishments.
The Observatory also showed that the Jerusalem Index declined by 11.4% since the beginning of the war on Gaza, compared to a 2.3% increase recorded from the beginning of the year until the sixth of last October.
The data showed that the industrial sector was the most affected as a result of the occupation’s violations in the northern governorates after the war on Gaza, as 91% of establishments indicated a decline in their production capacity by an average of 43%. The services sector is also considered one of the sectors whose performance clearly declined after the war, as it indicated 63% of establishments reported a decline in the number of employees by an average of 62%.
