LONDON: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Thursday that unemployment in the Gaza Strip increased to 68 percent after Israel launched a war on the coastal enclave in October 2023.
The increase was accompanied by a significant decline in labor force participation, falling to 25 percent from 40 percent before the war, the Wafa news agency reported.
Israel has destroyed nearly 92 percent of the buildings in Gaza, including hospitals, schools, homes, towers that house companies, and commercial facilities, according to UN figures.
Several international organizations have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, where the regime has killed more than 70,000 people and injured hundreds of others.
In the city of Gaza, the largest metropolitan area with nearly 590,000 people, workforce participation dropped from 55 percent in 2023 to about 32 percent by late 2024. The statistics bureau did not release data from Gaza City for 2025.
Unemployment in the West Bank increased to 28 percent in 2025, up from 13 percent in 2023. The number of Palestinians working there has declined from 868,000 to 736,000 due to fewer job opportunities in construction, mining, manufacturing and transport in the Palestinian cities and towns.
Authorities prohibited thousands of Palestinian workers from obtaining entry permits to work in Israel following the Hamas attack on settlements on Oct. 7, 2023.
The number of workers under this category fluctuates, according to the statistics bureau. In 2023, 172,000 Palestinian workers were employed inside Israel, but after the war started, that number fell to 25,000. By 2025, the number rose again to 51,000, when Israeli authorities resumed issuing more permits.
