The Structure of the Internal Trade and Services Sector in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967
This study provides a historical overview of the growth of the internal trade and services sector in the occupied Palestinian territory, oPt, since 1967, with special emphasis on changes that occurred during the last two decades. This especially applies to the growth and expansion of this sector, given the decline and erosion of the productive sectors in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, especially agricultural and industrial production. The study outlines the general features of the internal trade and services sector, focusing on various aspects of internal trade and informal services, and their implications for macroeconomic performance.
The study addresses structural distortions in economic conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip resulting from more than half a century of Israeli occupation, and its policies of dispossession and impoverishment. The study also reviews the effects of spatial distortions that greatly affect the performance of this sector. The occupation imposed a tight siege on the Gaza Strip while separating East Jerusalem from its vital economic sphere
and further dividing the West Bank into more than 200 enclaves surrounded by barriers and restricted areas, classified as Area C, under comprehensive Israeli control. These distortions greatly impact economic performance in this sector. Moreover, the study examines economic relations across the Green Line between Palestinians in Israel and in the West Bank, and their contribution to internal trade and services.
The time framework of drafting this study ended by mid-November 2023, that is, a few weeks after the start of the Gaza War, in which Israel also imposed a comprehensive closure on the West Bank. The final section of this study examines the broad and profound impact that these developments have on overall economic performance and the internal trade and services sector in particular.