Palestine leader Mahmoud Abbas has approved the unpopular measure like renewing of the state of emergency in the occupied West Bank. As Wafa news agency reports, the emergency rules will last at least another month as from 3 November.
President Abbas expressed concern on the increase in the number of Covid-19 infections last week. According to the Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila, 734 new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in the occupied Palestinian territories along with three more deaths.
Additionally, 526 people have recovered from the virus, the minister says. However, 35 corona patients are still in intensive care, with seven on ventilators.
More than half a year of the pandemic hit hard on Palestine’s economy, according to the PCBS survey published recently. It had conducted on a sample of 9,926 households in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip which assessed the pandemic’s impact on the social and economic conditions in Palestine.
In comparison to February, the pre-pandemic era, 42 per cent of families had their income reduced by at least half during the lockdown. Another 63 per cent of Palestinian families resorted to borrowing money or buying on debt to cover their living requirements such as food, during the nationwide shutdown, up from 58 per cent under normal circumstances.
In addition, the Palestinian Authority paid only 50 per cent of the salaries of its public sector employees due to the financial crisis caused by severing ties with Israel after the occupation announced plans to annex large swathes of the occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley.
