A delegation of Gazan businessmen and civil society personnel are scheduled to travel to Egypt from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, to partake in a conference discussing the current economic situation in the besieged coastal enclave.
Osama Kheil, a spokesman for the union of contractors in Gaza, told Ma’an on Saturday that 38 businessmen from the Gaza Strip were invited to the “Ain Sokhna 2” conference, organized by the National Center for Middle East Studies.
The conference, he said, will discuss the economic situation in the coastal enclave and possible strategies for improving the dire living conditions of Gazans.
WikiLeaks: Israel aimed to keep Gaza economy on brink of collapse https://t.co/dCExR0197E
— The Stone Law Firm (@stonedefenselaw) October 26, 2016
Conveners will also talk about strategies for coordination with Egyptian authorities in regards to the Rafah border with the hopes of “keeping the border open as long as possible.”
The Gaza Strip has suffered under an Israeli military blockade since 2007, when Hamas was elected to rule the territory. Residents of Gaza suffer from high unemployment and poverty rates, as well as the consequences of three devastating wars with Israel since 2008, most recently in the summer of 2014.
The UN has said that the besieged Palestinian territory could become “uninhabitable” by 2020, as its 1.8 million residents remain in dire poverty due to the Israeli blockade that has crippled the economy.
(MA’AN, PC)
