Methods to Address West Bank Cities’ Economic Losses since the Start of the Gaza War - Issue 1

author: Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute - MAS
year: 2024

This policy paper outlines major economic losses and infrastructural damage to the city of Jenin, the Jenin refugee camp, the city of Nablus, and the town of Huwara since the start of the War on Gaza. In tandem with sustained aggression across the West Bank, the Israeli occupation besieged Palestinian cities and villages, surrounding them with military checkpoints of various types and sizes. Their number rose from 567 checkpoints on October 7 (77 major checkpoints, 490 other checkpoints such as earth mounds, cement barriers, and iron gates), to about 700 checkpoints today.1. This has been accompanied by an increase in the frequency of incursions and military operations, especially in the cities of Nablus and Jenin (as well as Tulkarem), leading to a significant decline in economic activity, especially retail and tourism (hotels- restaurants), both of which are considered economic backbones of the two cities. Nablus and Jenin are the largest cities (and governorates) in the northern West Bank in terms of area and population. 
Under normal circumstances, their economies are active, especially with thousands of Palestinians from across the Green Line weekly for shopping and university studies. The two cities account for about 14,395 operating establishments, employing around 45,005 workers (35,121 male and 9,884 female). The combined total population of both cities is 204,977.

The intervention framework is based on a partnership model, where responsibilities are divided across concerned parties through policies and interventions that will have positive economic and social impact. This covers the government, the private sector, and the civil society sector, as detailed in MAS’s background paper. With feedback from private-sector institutions in both cities, a set of policy recommendations emerged that could potentially reduce the negative impact of Israeli occupation on economic and social realities in these two cities.

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