RAMALLAH, Jan 18 (AFP): In the occupied West Bank, Hafeth Ghazawneh waits in quiet frustration for customers to visit his falafel stall, which has been deserted since the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
His breakfast and lunch offerings were popular with craftsmen from workshops near Al-Bireh, the twin city of Ramallah, before the Israel-Hamas war broke out.
"Now they're bringing their meals from home because the situation is so difficult," Ghazawneh tells AFP, fearing he will have to shut up shop if the war in the Gaza Strip continues.
Ghazawneh says his income has plummeted from around 7,000 shekels ($1,850) per month to just 2,000 ($530).
His worsening situation reflects the current status of the West Bank economy, which is in tatters as the war in Gaza rages.
The conflict erupted after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest Israeli figures.
Israel's blistering retaliation has killed at least 24,448 people, around 70 per cent of them women, children and adolescents, according to the Hamas government's health ministry in Gaza.
The World Bank has estimated the West Bank's GDP could fall by six per cent this year, while the International Labour Organization said 32 per cent of jobs have already been lost.
The unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 30 per cent, up from 14 per cent before the war, according to Taher al-Labadi, a researcher at the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo).
West Bank economy in tatters as Gaza war rages
FE Team | Published: January 18, 2024 23:09:29
West Bank economy in tatters as Gaza war rages
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