The World Bank presented a report on the Palestinian economy today to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee in Brussels. The biannual committee coordinates aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

COVID-19: The Palestinian economy grew 7.1% in 2021, which The World Bank attributed to coronavirus-related restrictions being “significantly eased.” The pandemic response pushed more than 110,000 Palestinian into poverty, according to the report.

The Palestinian economy was also helped by the number of West Bank Palestinians working in Israel increasing to 153,000 at the end of 2021 from 125,000 in 2020.

Poverty in the West Bank and Gaza decreased slightly to 27.3% in 2021, but unemployment went up by nearly 1% to 24.2% at the end of the year. The unemployment rate in the West Bank was 13.2% in 2021, while it was 44.7% in Gaza.

The World Bank added that Israel should do more to loosen some restrictions on the Palestinian territories. The World Bank particularly criticized Israeli control over Palestinian trade.

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/05/world-bank-praises-palestinian-easing-covid-rules-criticizes-israeli-control

Israel’s Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej participated Tuesday in the spring session of the international donor coordination group in support of the Palestinian economy, known as the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC).

Frej arrived in Brussels May 9, and conducted a series of diplomatic meetings ahead of the May 10 AHCL session. He met separately both with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and with Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara.

Frej said, "A strong and stable Palestinian Authority is of course a Palestinian interest, but it is also an Israeli and international interest."

The list of confidence-building measures now includes some 20,000 work permits for Gaza workers, the highest number of permits granted in the past 15 years. Another first was the decision to offer 500 work permits to West Bank Palestinians in high tech.

Addressing his counterparts at the AHCL meeting, Frej warned, "If  the international community does not provide financial support, if the Palestinian Authority does not carry out reforms to improve its financial management, fight corruption, and end incitement, and if Israel does not continue to increase and expand measures to strengthen the Palestinian economy, the train will head off the cliff, and the result will be a catastrophe that will be felt across the region. If all this happens, it will be extremely costly to repair."

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/05/israeli-minister-frej-joins-palestinian-aid-summit-brussels