The Businessmen Association in Gaza warned on Monday of "catastrophic and dangerous" repercussions of the crisis of the new Corona virus on the economy of the besieged sector since mid-2007.
The president of the society, Ali Al Hayek, said in a press statement: The repercussions of the emergency in the Gaza Strip affected the foundations and factors of the resilience of the fragile economy, with thousands of workers joining the army of the unemployed.
Al-Hayek said that the industrial sector is considered one of the largest affected sectors, "as it alone has lost more than 10 thousand jobs since the beginning of the Corona crisis, due to the decline in the percentage of production in it by 19 percent, which threatens further deterioration and economic collapse."
He stressed that the Gaza economy "is passing through a dangerous stage as a result of the policy of exacerbating previous crises," warning that this threatens unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty in the Strip and threatens a comprehensive and large collapse in all sectors of life, if no quick solutions are reached.
Hayek called for the need to compensate those affected for their losses and provide urgent assistance to them, "especially that the Corona virus crisis deepens the Palestinian economic crisis in general, and Gaza´s economy is especially weak."
The President of the Businessmen Association in Gaza urged government agencies to intervene by formulating effective programs that would reduce worsening crises, chief among them crises of unemployment, poverty and food shortage.
To date, the Gaza Strip has recorded 13 new infections with the Corona virus, knowing that it has faced an Israeli blockade since mid-2007.
