UN: Palestinian economy could double without ‘occupation’
GENEVA – The U.N.’s development agency estimates the Palestinian economy could be twice as large as it is now if it were freed from Israeli control.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has reported for years about conditions in Palestinian areas. But its latest report issued Tuesday marks the first time the conference has tried to tally what it called “the staggering economic cost of occupation.”
The report cites limits on movement, destruction of assets, expansion of Israeli settlements, and confiscation of land, water and natural resources among the “channels through which occupation deprives the Palestinian people of their human right to development.”
It noted that recovery has been weak from a 2014 recession that UNCTAD attributed largely to the impact of Israeli military operations in Gaza.
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