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Israel put a ban on exports from the Gaza Strip in response to what Israel claimed was an attempt to transport explosives. Palestinians urged that Israel reverse the embargo on Tuesday, claiming that it will negatively affect thousands of families and their precarious livelihoods in the blockaded enclave.
Israel announced on Monday that it was temporarily halting the export of commercial products from Gaza after inspectors discovered several kilograms of “high-quality explosives” concealed in a shipment’s clothing lining.
Owner Mohammad Al-Hajj of the beachfront Al-Bahar (The Sailor) restaurant and fish farm claimed to have exported 20 tons of fish to Israel and the West Bank each week.
Unless the export prohibition is overturned, 200 employees at Hajj’s company risk losing their jobs, he claimed. “The fish in fridges will decay if we can’t export it, and we will be forced to sell the fish of the farm at the lowest prices,” he added.
The tiny Gaza Strip is home to some 2 million Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are the offspring of refugees who left or were pushed out of what is now Israel in 1948, the year Israel was founded.
Since the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the region in 2007, it has seen one of the highest rates of unemployment worldwide as a result of an Israeli-backed Egyptian-led boycott on a variety of items. Additionally, it has suffered significant harm through Israel’s invasion of Gaza, four major wars, and several other conflicts.
The move by Israel, according to a spokesman for Hamas named Hazem Qassem, “would increase the already existing tension because of continued Israeli blockade and aggression against our people.”
Palestinian Economy Minister Khaled Assaili urged that Israel lift the embargo that prevents Gaza exports to Israel and the West Bank in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Assaili, a member of the Palestinian Authority, which asserts to speak for all Palestinians despite having lost control of Gaza to Hamas, said the unjust judgment was a continuation of Israel’s strategy of collective punishment, which it has been enforcing since 2007, and which has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Gaza’s ministry of economy estimates its exports at $134 million annually, with the majority going to Israel and the West Bank.
60,000 farming and fishing families would be impacted by the Israeli action, according to Gaza’s agriculture ministry, which is managed by Hamas. The daily losses were projected at 1 million shekels ($263,000).
“We seek that the unfair judgment be overturned. It is not supported by any real basis and violates international law, according to a statement from the ministry.
Israel maintains customs posts to permit exports and permits thousands of workers to leave Gaza to work in Israel and the West Bank despite its blockade in an effort to promote some kind of economic stability.
Gaza exports a sizable amount of textiles and other goods in addition to fish and agricultural items.
An official in Gaza’s economy ministry named Osama Nofal claimed that the border closure would have more significant implications than only the immediate suspension of exports.
“The choice will have an effect on industrial facilities; they may close, many workers may lose their jobs, and unemployment may rise. Such a choice is unquestionably disastrous, he said.
The Palestinian Industries Union’s Wadhah Bseisso stated that if the blockade persisted, as many as 30,000 jobs may be lost.
Source- Arab News
