The socio-economic crisis in the Palestinian Territories has "reached critical levels", a United Nations official has observed. "Unemployment and poverty rates are now higher than in 1967," he said, referring to the year when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza.
The UN Special Co-ordinator, Mr Terje Larsen, a former Norwegian diplomat involved in the peace process since 1993, stated yesterday: "We are witnessing peace-building in reverse."
Yesterday he presented to the press four reports on developments in the territories since the intifada erupted in September, 2000. What happens now depends, first and foremost, on the actions of the Palestinian Authority, he said, but also on Israeli actions which shape the Palestinian outlook.
He continued: "There are over 100 [Israeli] checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These and other roadblocks divide the Palestinian Territories into 200 separate areas. Whether these restrictions enhance security or undermine it remains an unanswered question.
"What is certain is that they have had devastating effects on the Palestinian economic and social fabric."
Mr Larsen calculated that during the first year of the intifada, Israel clamped closures on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank for 240 days (66 per cent of the year) and in Gaza for 342 days (94 per cent).
Movement between the West Bank and Gaza was severely restricted throughout the year, he said. It halted completely between the Palestinian areas and Israel for 263 days (72 per cent). As a result, the number of Palestinian labourers working in Israel fell by more than 50 per cent, from 146,000 to 63,000 by September 2001.
Total income losses may be as high as $3.2 billion for the first year of the crisis, he said. The loss from Palestinians working in Israel alone was $594.5 million.
By the end of September 2001, the Palestinian unemployment rate reached 35 per cent overall and nearly 50 per cent in Gaza. The World Bank estimates that 46 per cent of the Palestinian population will be below the poverty level by year's end, more than double the rate prior to the crisis. This portion of the population lives on less than $2 per day per capita.
