The Public Workers Union in the Gaza Strip has said that the eight year Israeli siege and last year’s military offensive on the coastal enclave raised the number of unemployed workers to 213,000, responsible for the well-being of 900,000 family members, Anadolu reported on Sunday. The unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip now stands at 60 per cent added the union.

“Unemployed people and their families live in very difficult circumstances due to the accumulated economic crises,” said the PWU. “Seventy per cent are classed as being in ‘severe poverty’.” It called on the Palestinian unity government to support them.

In May, the International Monetary Fund said that Gaza’s is amongst the world’s worst economies with 43 per cent unemployment, rising to 70 per cent among people aged between 20 and 24.

In its annual report issued at the beginning of this month, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that Gaza will not be “liveable” by 2020. “Action needs to be taken now if Gaza is to be a liveable place in 2020 and it is already difficult now,” UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard told journalists.

(Middle East Monitor)