On the morning of November 2nd, two boats carrying nearly 30 international human rights activists from five countries set sail from Turkish ports to challenge Israel's illegal blockade and siege of the Gaza Strip. Among the passengers is an American, Kitt Kittredge, of Washington State. Dubbed "Freedom Wave to Gaza" this effort follows Freedom Flotilla II which comprised ten ships with civilians from 22 countries who attempted to sail for the Gaza Strip in July of 2011 but were thwarted as a result of Israeli pressure. 

After two years of closure, punctuated by the Gaza War, there has been no improvement at the crossings. The ability to rebuild Gaza and revitalize its economy is dependent on fully opening the commercial crossings to permit inbound movements of industrial inputs, construction materials, and equipment, as well as outbound movement of finished products into local and external markets. The opening of the crossings is not yet occurring. 

This survey, which covered both rural farmer and Bedouin households, aimed to produce a comprehensive outline of the problems and vulnerabilities facing these households. As such the following areas were included: Socio-economic Information; Flock Characteristics; Animal Health; Feeding System; Herd Management and Reproduction; Meat and Dairy Production; Water Availability. 

The cause of unprecedented poverty in the oPt is the socio-economic crisis that began in late 2000. The root cause of the crisis remains the system of mobility restrictions in the West Bank, the almost total siege of Gaza, and the isolation of the two territories from each other and the outside world by the Government of Israel. 

This report on the Bethlehem governorate documents how the central-urban core is constricted by a combination of Israeli infrastructure, including the Barrier, settlements and settlement outposts. In the eastern governorate, administrative restrictions also limit the potential for urban expansion, grazing, and for planning and development at the governorate level. 

The siege and recent violent military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel has put additional pressure on the long standing undeveloped sewage infrastructure of the Gaza Strip. A simple visible manifestation of this is the significant volume of raw and partially treated sewage discharging into the environment and the Mediterranean Sea at multiple points along the coast line of the Gaza Strip. 

Palestinians abstract about 20% of the "estimated potential" of the aquifers that underlie both the West Bank and Israel. Israel abstracts the balance, and in addition overdraws without JWC approval on the "estimated potential" by more than 50%, up to 1.8 times its share under Oslo. Over-extraction by deep wells combined with reduced recharge has created risks for the aquifers and a decline in water available to Palestinians through shallower wells. 

To access the wider world market, Palestinian enterprises must first face the challenge of moving within the West Bank itself. The numerous Israeli road blocks, closed areas, restricted roads and growing settlements have cut the Palestinian communities into isolated cantons, which raise transportation costs and significantly limits the ability of Palestinian enterprises to achieve economies of scale. 

The formal financial sector in West Bank and Gaza emerged some 15 years ago, after 1993-1994 with the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993 and the Paris Protocol in 1994. The latter provided Palestinians the authority to administer monetary and financial affairs in order to support the expected economic growth. Those expectations were never fully realized because of on-going restrictions on mobility of persons and goods and on access to natural and financial resources imposed by Israel. 

Olives are a centuries-old mainstay of the Palestinian economy, with the soil and climate producing some of the of the world's highest quality olive oil. The olive is also symbolic of Palestinians' roots in, and attachment to, the land. Some 45% of agricultural land (over 900,000 dunums) is planted with an estimated 10 million olive trees, with the potential to produce between 32,000 - 35,000 metric tons of oil. 

This AHLC report takes stock of further progress on the three parallel conditions for Palestinian economic revival - PA reforms, donor aid and Israeli resolution of the M&A restrictions. It also defines and analyzes the extent of economic restrictions as a collective set of barriers - physical, institutional and administrative - that combine to prevent Palestinian access to its own economic potential, and to the rest of the world. 

The Palestinian economy continued to perform badly in 2007. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007 - estimated at about USD 4.1 billion - was virtually unchanged from 2006, itself a year of severe economic regression. There was a rebound in the public sector after mid-2007 due to the end of the fiscal crisis that began in 2006 with the Government of Israel (GOI) and donor boycott of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and public employee strike. 

The truce between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt on 19 June is still holding despite attempts to break the ceasefire by militants groups resulting into the temporary closure of the crossings for both humanitarian and commercial imports. Likewise, there is increased animosity between Palestinians and settlers in the West Bank, leading to stricter closure regime and reduced mobility for people and goods. 

Three United Nations agencies have warned of a decline in Palestinian living standards as a new report shows that high food prices and falling incomes are forcing Palestinian families to manage with less and lower quality food. The main driver of Palestinian food insecurity is of a political nature, as key elements in vulnerability are rooted in the military and administrative measures imposed by the Israeli occupation. 

This report, which follows an ILO delegation visit to the Middle East, depicts a much degraded employment and labour situation. The plight of the Palestinian people has not improved in any fundamental way. Indeed, in a number of respects it has deteriorated alarmingly. With the near total closure of the Gaza Strip following the break up of the national unity government and the continuing impediments to the movement of persons and goods in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, economic and political life is highly fragmented. 

This document lays out the Palestinian National Authority's vision of an independent Palestinian state. It highlights steps it has already taken to restore good governance and the rule of law to the West Bank - steps it believes demonstrates its commitment to realizing this vision and steps it aspires to replicate in Gaza. 

The West Bank has limited natural resources and its economy depends on trade and remittances from jobs in Israel. Since the majority of the West Bank's trade is with Israel, the current closure regime is forcing many West Bankers into reliance on aid and worsening the already deteriorating socio-economic conditions. UN agencies currently provide food aid to more than 790,650 Palestinians in the West Bank. A dependency, which according to the World Bank, is not temporary. 

In the wake of the June 2007 events and the tightened closure regime imposed on the Gaza Strip, WFP and Al Sahel carried out a survey on the humanitarian situation with a view to assessing the impact of the current crisis on the non refugee population. The overall conclusion of the study is that the restriction on imports and freeze on exports have significantly reduced the livelihood viability of Gazas population, bringing larger segments of the population into the vulnerability circle. 

Following the passage of the 2007 emergency budget, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has initiated a number of fiscal reforms. Despite political uncertainty and a difficult security situation, a prudent fiscal policy is being pursued, including through a strict government employment policy and a tightening of nonwage spending commitments. The medium-term macroeconomic and fiscal framework adopted by the authorities builds on the improved fiscal performance in the second half of 2007. 

The course of the Palestinian economy since the Second Intifadah has left per capita GDP in 2006 ($1,130) at 40% less than in 1999, and has altered an already-fragile economy from one driven by investment and private sector productivity, to one sustained by government and private consumption, and donor aid. Reversing this downward cycle requires parallel actions by the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel and the donors.