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Israel is CRUSHING the West Bank
Chokehold: Countering Israel’s Grip on the West Bank Economy, published by the International Crisis Group, addresses the West Bank economy, which Israel has long disrupted, increasingly in dire straits. Palestinian society survives, but in a state of grinding immiseration. Absent remedies, the result will likely be a loss of hope and a growing risk of instability and greater violence.
One instance of mounting Israeli pressure is the Israeli Medical Association report of “ongoing severe damage” to the healthcare system in the West Bank. Amira Hass reports in Haaretz on 6/14, that the damage is due to Israel’s withholding customs revenues from the Palestinian Authority. The funding shortfall has left the Palestinian Health Ministry unable to pay full salaries to many public-sector healthcare workers and has contributed to mounting debts, with government hospitals and clinics operating at reduced capacity. Elective and semi-urgent procedures (necessary but not immediately life-saving) have been suspended for more than a year, and some patients have suffered complications, others have died while waiting for treatment.
“Palestinians Dying for Work.” This +972 article documents the outcome of Israel shutting its borders to West Bank laborers after Oct.7. Desperation for work means thousands are finding a way in and Israeli police keep shooting them.
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