The Straits Times: The World Bank warned on Tuesday (Sept 25) that the Gaza Strip’s economy is in “free fall” as cuts to aid and salaries add to an already crippling Israeli blockade on the Hamas-run enclave.
The bank’s report will be presented to the international donor group for Palestinians, known as the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, at its meeting in New York on Thursday (Sept 27) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting will coincide with the speeches to the assembly of both Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin.
Already squeezed by the more than decade-long Israeli blockade, Gaza’s economy has been further weakened by US aid cuts and financial measures by Abbas’s Palestinian Authority.
Abbas has been seeking to pressure Islamist group Hamas, which expelled his loyalists from the territory in 2007, as well as save costs.
According to the World Bank, he has reduced monthly payments to Gaza by some US$30 million (S$41 million).
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