Economy
The economy of Gaza has deteriorated since the end of the Second Intifada due to both Gaza's high population density and the security restrictions it has been subjected to. Israel's closure policy, which was extended following the Hamas administration coming to power in 2007, has led to high levels of poverty and unemployment and an almost total collapse of the private sector which was heavily reliant upon export markets. The population is largely dependent on humanitarian assistance, primarily from the UN agencies.
An easing of Israel's closure policy in 2010 resulted in an improvement in some economic indicators, but regular exports from the Gaza Strip are still prohibited. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the economy of the Gaza Strip improved in 2011, with a drop in unemployment and an increase in GDP. Lt. Col. Kobi Gertzvolf of the Israeli Defense Forces states that new malls have opened and local industry is developing. Lt. Col. Gertzvolf states that the economic upswing has led to the construction of hotels and a rise in the import of cars. Wide-scale development has been made possible by the unhindered movement of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The current rate of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom is 250 trucks per day. This figure fluctuates dependent on the level of interference with goods being brought into Gaza from Egypt through tunnels. The increase in building activity has led to a shortage of construction workers. To make up for the deficit, young people are being sent to learn the trade in Turkey.
Read more about this topic: Gaza Strip
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“War. Fighting. Men ... every man in the whole realm is in the army.... Every man in uniform ... An economy entirely geared to war ... but there is not much war ... hardly any fighting ... yet every man a soldier from birth till death ... Men ... all men for fighting ... but no war, no wars to fight ... what is it, what does it mean?””
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)