The United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories reports that "strict internal and comprehensive border closures [have been imposed] by the Israeli authorities, including the placing of physical barriers between Palestinian villages and cities," as well as between the territories and Israel.

The UN agency estimated that economic activity has been halved, and that the closure has cost the territories $8 million a day. Exports have been effectively blocked from the Gaza Strip and heavily reduced from the West Bank.

Around $2.2 billion, or 80 percent, of the total trade under the jurisdiction of the Palestine National Authority is with Israel. Jordan is the next largest trading partner, with barely 2.5 percent. No blockade of the two bridges linking the West Bank with Jordan has yet been reported. In a previous closure in 1997, these routes for trade were sealed off.

"Agriculture has come to a standstill... because of the internal closures Israel imposed across the West Bank. They prevented movement of goods and people out of towns and between towns, villages, and farms," reported the November 6 Financial Times.

The closure immediately affected the 125,000 Palestinians who travel each day into Israel or who find work in Israeli industrial zones and settlements in the occupied territories.

Only 40,000 of the 100,000 who cross the Israeli border each day carry official work permits. The October 9 border shutdown "resulted in an almost complete cessation of labor flows and an estimated $3.4 million loss" each day in wages, according to the UN.

Some Israeli employers are scrambling to find replacement workers. The construction industry is the worst affected. In 1999, more than 56 percent of Palestinian workers were employed in this sector.

Israeli employers use the occupied territories as a reserve pool of superexploited labor. In 1999 the average wage of a worker in Gaza was around half the wage level paid in Israel; workers in the West Bank did slightly better.

The UN report notes that "material losses have been caused by Israel's use of heavy weapons, including rocket fire, against numerous buildings and vehicles and the destruction of fruit orchards near flash points.... Israeli settlers have also engaged in the destruction of private property such as numerous Palestinian trucks used to transport goods to and from Gaza which were located in car parks under Israeli control."

The military has also imposed a 24-hour curfew on 30,000 Palestinians living near Zionist settlements in the city of Hebron, allowing residents out of their homes for only a couple of hours every three days to do shopping and other essential tasks. Israeli soldiers guard the market square from a heavily armored catwalk. Schools are closed, affecting 12,000 children. Residents also report that electricity is frequently cut off.

"We are living as though we are in prison," said Afifi Shirwati, a teacher.

The Los Angeles Times described an incident involving a husband and wife who used their few hours of release to shop for essentials for their family. As they walked home, the paper reported, "a loud voice from an Israeli army jeep megaphone reminded them that their ordeal was not yet over. 'Go home!' it screamed."

Young Palestinians in Hebron regularly mount protests against the Israeli forces, which respond to rock-throwing with deadly ammunition.
 
 
Related article:
Israeli regime maintains siege of West Bank, Gaza  
 
 
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