RAMALLAH
The Palestinian Federation of Industries (PFI) said the Israeli offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip has left 134 factories completely destroyed, causing more than $47 million in direct losses and rendering 30,000 workers jobless.
"The Israeli army wanted to destroy the industrial infrastructure of the Gaza Strip," PFI Vice President Ali al-Hayek said in a statement.
In a preliminary tally put the losses of the industrial sector in Gaza, the union said 134 factories were leveled to the ground in the unrelenting Israeli attacks.
It put the direct losses incurred by the factory owners at $47 million, adding that 30,000 Gaza workers have also been rendered jobless.
This, the union added, took the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip to a staggering 55 percent.
The figures are likely to increase as more reports on damage caused by the Israeli attacks surface, it said.
At least 1867 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed and 9470 wounded in devastating Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip – home to 1.8 million people - since July 7.
A three-day Egypt-brokered humanitarian ceasefire is giving Palestinians a chance to count their losses.
But Gaza's woes long predated the latest Israeli offensive.
The coastal enclave has been reeling under a watertight Israeli siege since 2006.
A recent Egyptian army crackdown on border smuggling tunnels has also added insult to the Palestinians' economic injuries.
Gaza officials say nearly 40 percent of the needs of the costal enclave used to come through the border tunnels.
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