The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) has warned that Israel’s continued closure of the Gaza border crossings will lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe and force many factories to shrink or shut down their activities and lay off thousands of workers.
In press remarks PGFTU head Sami al-Amsi said that the closure of crossings for the 46th consecutive day prevented shipments of raw materials needed by the industrial sector from entering Gaza and thus forced hundreds of factories to operate partially or irregularly.
Such situation has affected the income of thousands of workers and worsened the living conditions of their families Amsi added pointing out that there are about 21000 people working in 15000 affected factories in Gaza after 500 closed due to the siege and wars.
He explained that such closure led factories to run out of many items and raw materials and caused a considerable shortage of basic goods that Gaza citizens need and use on a daily basis.
The official also denounced the Israeli occupation authority for imposing “prohibitive conditions” on Gaza farmers in order to allow them to export some of their agricultural products affirming that such measure made the agricultural sector incur losses of around $16 million.
He described such Israeli policy towards Gaza as “intentional” and aimed at dealing a knockout blow to the Palestinian economy and exacerbating the human suffering of the population.
He appealed to the international community the UN and the Arab and international labor organizations to pressure Israel to end such policy towards Gaza before the economic situation becomes much worse.
