Economic survival in Gaza decimated by Israeli counts on small initiatives

"Gaza's unemployment rate has reached 80 percent, among the highest in the world, according to the United Nations. After more than two years of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, the daily unbearable churn of mass death and mourning, with homes, hospitals and schools destroyed, the besieged Palestinian territory also faces the fastest and most damaging economic collapse on record. That is according to the United Nations, which says Gaza's unemployment rate has reached 80 percent."

"Widowed and responsible for a household of five, Um Mohammed al-Jarjawi relies on knitting to provide for her family and sometimes passes on her skills to the next generation. Every day inside her home, al-Jarjawi prepares food for her grandchildren. Moments later, she heads out to work. I started learning knitting when I was 10 years old, she told Al Jazeera."

"Small-scale businesses have expanded, ranging from solar-powered phone-charging stations to women knitting baby clothes. They provide households with short-term means of survival, but it is not enough to restore economic stability or generate sustainable, protected employment. With 70 percent of electricity networks destroyed, Gaza's power system has collapsed, forcing people to improvise. For Wasim al-Yazji, a makeshift solar-powered charging station is a fragile lifeline that provides some income but cannot solve the power crisis."

Gaza experiences an 80 percent unemployment rate amid extensive destruction of homes, hospitals and schools and the fastest recorded economic collapse. The blockade and prolonged conflict have devastated infrastructure and livelihoods. Informal, small-scale businesses and individual skills now underpin many households' survival strategies. Examples include women knitting baby clothes and makeshift solar-powered phone-charging stations that provide limited income. Electricity networks are largely destroyed, collapsing the power system and forcing improvisation. These improvised initiatives supply short-term relief but cannot restore economic stability or produce sustainable, protected employment for the population.

Read at www.aljazeera.com