Khaberni - The permanent representative of Jordan to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Akram Al-Harrahsha, emphasized that Israel's condemned actions and its imposition of restrictions against freedom of movement in the West Bank, have restricted production and supply chains, paralyzed commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors, and prevented workers from accessing their facilities and jobs, which led to the closure of thousands of commercial shops, as the report documents the closure of more than 8000 shops in Jenin alone.
In a statement before the Trade and Development Board at UNCTAD on Monday, Al-Harrahsha explained that Israel's detention of Palestinian clearance funds has exacerbated "the worst financial crisis ever faced by the occupied territories," which is also confirmed by UN data indicating that these policies "have completely paralyzed the industrial, agricultural, and trade sectors."
He added that the UNCTAD report "reveals the catastrophic economic and humanitarian losses of the Israeli war on Gaza and the continuing occupation of Palestinian land." He expressed Jordan's appreciation for the efforts of the UNCTAD secretariat in preparing the report "despite limited human and material resources" and despite "the obstructions by the occupying power to the access of UN staff" during past years.
Al-Harrahsha confirmed that "the devastation in Gaza, caused by a war that wasted decades of development," citing ESCWA's estimates, which concluded that "the Palestinian Human Development Index would drop from 0.716 in 2022 to 0.643 in 2024," meaning "the erasure of about a quarter-century of human development," while in Gaza alone the impact equates to "the erasure of 69 years of development."
The ambassador clarified that production has completely stopped, and that schools and hospitals have been destroyed, and that the residents have been "left facing killing, starvation, and extreme poverty," adding that Gaza's economy has shrunk and its gross national product has vanished.
In the same context, Al-Harrahsha affirmed that this crisis is not specific to Gaza alone, but represents "a deliberate deprivation of the Palestinian people of development."
Ambassador Al-Harrahsha called on the international community to assume its ethical and humanitarian responsibilities and to expedite the international response to the catastrophic situation facing the Palestinian people, ensuring the reconstruction of the Palestinian economy and achieving sustainable development in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Al-Harrahsha demanded that the UNCTAD secretariat "secure all the required resources, including allocating human and financial resources to continue monitoring and documenting the occupation and the occupied Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem," and to work on "creating more programs of sustainable aid in occupied Palestine, contributing to enhancing the economic capacity of the Palestinian people and increasing its resilience."
In conclusion of his speech, the ambassador stated: "We must move from celebrating solidarity to practicing solidarity actively, by enforcing rights, defending our shared values, and earnestly striving towards achieving just and complete peace, as the International Court of Justice has affirmed that the Israeli occupation is illegitimate, and we affirm that its continuation is unacceptable and its unilateral actions are all illegal and illegitimate."
He added that just, comprehensive, and permanent peace is the only way out of cycles of violence and wars, and it will not be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation, based on the two-state solution on the lines of June 4, 1967, according to international legitimacy resolutions, including the Arab Peace Initiative, and the New York Conference statement on the two-state solution.
