Raja Khalidi: Gaza’s Economic Collapse is Systemic — Not Just a Humanitarian Crisis [Video]
![Raja Khalidi: Gaza’s Economic Collapse is Systemic — Not Just a Humanitarian Crisis [Video]](https://mas.ps/cached_uploads/resize/1900/700/2025/08/05/jazeera-1754398475.png)
In this interview with Al Jazeera English, Raja Khalidi, Director General of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), offers a sobering analysis of the catastrophic economic and social conditions in Gaza amid ongoing Israeli military aggression.
Speaking from Ramallah, Khalidi describes the total disintegration of financial and social systems in Gaza — a situation he characterizes as part of a deliberate Israeli strategy to make the Strip unlivable. With formal financial institutions non-functional and aid blocked for over six months, Gazans have been forced to survive through bartering, exploitative service exchanges, and in some cases, war profiteering.
Khalidi also addresses the challenges of post-war recovery, stating that even if a ceasefire were to occur, immediate relief — not economic reconstruction— would dominate the agenda for months. Without liberation of the Palestinian banking system and resolution of frozen PA clearance revenues, recovery remains a distant hope.