Palestinians look for survivors following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov 7, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is demanding unhindered humanitarian access and aid to civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory after 390,000 jobs were lost since the latest flare-up in the Israel-Palestine conflict that began a month ago.
In a bulletin issued on Nov 6, titled “The Impact of the current Israel-Hamas conflict on the labor market and livelihoods in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)”, the ILO said that at least 61 percent of employment, or an equivalent of 182,000 jobs, has been lost in the Gaza strip over the past month, amid a deadly bombing campaign and new blockades by Israel in response to an Oct 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israel.
Even prior to the current conflict, the situation in Gaza was particularly dire “as a result of a 17-year old blockade imposed on the enclave”, and Gazans have long grappled with persistently high rates of poverty, unemployment and vulnerability
The OPT consists of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
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The bulletin also noted that the Gaza conflict was having a “spillover effect in the West Bank”, where an estimated 24 percent of employment, equivalent to 208,000 jobs, has been lost over the same period.
ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat said their initial assessment of the repercussions of the current crisis on the Palestinian labor market “have yielded extremely worrying results” and may worsen if the conflict persists.
She also said the current conflict represented a social and economic crisis, having caused vast damage to jobs and businesses “with reverberations that will be felt for many years to come”.
The ILO bulletin noted that the labor market and employment landscape in the OPT “is complex”, having been impacted by decades of restrictions on the movement of individuals and goods imposed “as part of the Israeli occupation”.
Even prior to the current conflict, the situation in Gaza was particularly dire “as a result of a 17-year old blockade imposed on the enclave”, and Gazans have long grappled with persistently high rates of poverty, unemployment and vulnerability.
As per a labor force survey undertaken in the second quarter of 2023, 44.8 percent of the working-age population in the OPT participated in the labor force, with rates significantly higher in the West Bank compared to Gaza.
The employment-to-population ratio in the West Bank was also almost double that in Gaza and the majority of Gazans, or around 51 percent, were employed in the “services and other branches” sector, while “commerce, restaurants and hotels” accounted for another 23 percent of employment.
Among those who were employed in Gaza, low wages were prevalent, with an average monthly wage of 717 new Israeli Shekels (approximately $184), roughly half of that in the West Bank. Some 90 percent of wage employees in the private sector in Gaza earned below the minimum wage.
Jaradat reiterated a call by the ILO Governing Body to promptly allow and facilitate — in keeping with international humanitarian law — a full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians throughout Gaza.
She vowed long-term support in collecting vital labor market information and for recovery of jobs and enterprises, incorporating social protection initiatives, “to the utmost extent of our mandate”.
Once the situation allows, the ILO said, the focus “should shift towards recovery and reconstruction efforts”, adding that the ILO’s Employment Intensive Infrastructure Programs “can be pivotal in this context”
Most neighborhoods in Gaza have been destroyed with infrastructure severely damaged following the Israeli bombardment which is still ongoing. Many businesses have closed, and large-scale internal displacement of about 1.5 million people has occurred, according to latest United Nations figures published on Nov 7.
Some 717,000 are reported to be sheltering in UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees facilities, while another 122,000 are in hospitals, churches and public buildings. An estimated 110,000 people are in 89 non-UNRWA schools, and the rest are with host families.
The lack of water, food and fuel are crippling economic activity, the ILO noted in its bulletin.
To address the repercussions of the conflict in Gaza, the UN agency has prepared a multi-phased approach where, in the immediate term, apart from providing critical humanitarian assistance like shelter and access to basic goods, it is crucial to implement emergency income support measures.
This would involve establishing an emergency unemployment scheme aimed at assisting workers who have either lost their jobs or have been displaced.
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It is also looking to adopting practical steps to ensure Gazans’ access to water, food, medical supplies, and other basic goods, and would involve the establishment of cash and in-kind transfers and unemployment schemes aimed at assisting affected workers and their families.
Once the situation allows, the ILO said, the focus “should shift towards recovery and reconstruction efforts”, adding that the ILO’s Employment Intensive Infrastructure Programs “can be pivotal in this context”.
Supporting affected employers by offering income support and wage subsidies is being seen as another critical component. And grants, particularly targeting self-employed individuals, social and solidarity economic units, micro and small enterprises, and those operating in the informal sector, were seen as of utmost importance.
Contact the writer at jan@chinadailyapac.com
