RAMALLAH, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian economists warned on Friday that Palestine is at risk of economic and financial losses due to the COVID-19 spread.
They said the economic losses will be caused by the closure of tourist sites and imposing tight measures on traveling all over the West Bank amid coronavirus spread.
On March 5, the Palestinian Authority (PA) declared a status of emergency for one month after discovering the first case infected with the coronavirus in the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem.
Earlier on Friday, Ibrahim Melhem, spokesman of the Palestinian government, announced that the number of the cases infected with the coronavirus rised to 35, after discovering four new cases in Bethlehem.
He told reporters that 34 cases were found in Bethlehem and one case was found in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem.
Due to the status of emergency, the PA took a series of tight precautionary measures, including the closure of hotels, restaurants and cafes.
Local economists said that these measures have caused temporary unemployment for thousands of Palestinian workers.
Abdulghani al-Attari, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Ramallah, told Xinhua that "the crisis of coronavirus and the resulted consequences of the tight precautionary measures had badly influenced workers and merchants."
The experts agreed that it is hard to get an initial evaluation of the Palestinian economic losses due to the spread of the virus, but they expected that the situation may get worse in case the precautionary measures are further tightened.
One scenario is that Israel might unilaterally close or coordinate with the PA to close the crossing points all over the West Bank.
The experts warned that "the Israeli closure of crossing points in the West Bank will leave 200,000 Palestinians who work in Israel unemployed."
Khaled al-Osaily, Palestinian minister of national economy, said earlier that the average of the monthly income of the 200,000 Palestinians, who work in Israel, reaches more than 280 million U.S. dollars.
"It will not be an easy decision or measure to ban the Palestinian workers from working in Israel, and we don't have any intention to do so," said al-Osaily in a press statement.
He clarified that "a full closure of the crossing points with Israel is impossible and checking the workers before and after they get into Israel on daily basis is complicated, difficult and expensive, but it is not guaranteed."
Ramallah-based Palestinian economist Nasser Abdulkareem said that the daily income of the Palestinians, who work in Israel, represents a good financial liquidity "which is essential and important for the Palestinian economy."
"The closure of the crossing points between the West Bank and Israel and banning workers from working in Israel would be a critical strike to the Palestinian economy and will cause large economic losses," said Abdulkareem.
"I believe that the only remaining option for the PA, which is also not easy, is to request financial funds and donations from the international community as soon as possible," said the expert.
