A Palestinian man walks past two Israeli military personal carriers during an Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarm, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP)

A recent report from The New York Times highlights the severe repercussions of the brutal Israeli aggression on the West Bank since October 7 and its devastating effects on the local economy.

With the Israeli closure of checkpoints, Palestinians in the '48 occupied territories can no longer come to Jenin and Tulkarm to shop, and West Bank Palestinians cannot travel to work in "Israel", drastically reducing incomes, the report contended.

Less than three years ago, Wassif Frahat invested $3 million to open the opulent, two-story Ali Baba restaurant, which symbolizes his hope for a better future.

Israeli aggression shatters future of Palestinian youths

Located in Jenin, Ali Baba is only a few minutes' drive from the Israeli al-Jalamah checkpoint, north of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, which typically allows Palestinians from the '48 occupied Palestinian territories to enter the West Bank and vice versa.

However, the checkpoint has been closed since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza. "Israel" withheld most tax revenue from West Bank authorities, aiming to weaken them and impose broader restrictions on Palestinians. The northern West Bank economy collapsed, shattering Mr. Frahat's hopes for a prosperous future.

While the brutal Israeli aggression has turned Gaza into a desert, it also plunged the West Bank into poverty, becoming a secondary front in "Israel's" war against Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority has been able to pay only about 50 percent of the salaries owed to its estimated 140,000 employees. Since October, the West Bank, home to around three million people, has lost 144,000 jobs, and 148,000 Palestinians who worked in "Israel" are now unemployed, according to the World Bank. Before October 7, the West Bank's unemployment rate was at about 13 percent, compared to Gaza's 45 percent.

Frahat, 51, once employed 53 staff members at his Ali Baba restaurant and another one in the city center. "Now I only have 18 because business is down by 90 percent," he told The New York Times. His customer base has dwindled, not only losing Palestinians from the '48 occupied Palestinian territories but also local Palestinians, who now lack money and are constantly threatened by ongoing Israeli military raids, most notably on refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nablus.

The Israeli army killed seven people during a raid in Jenin on July 5, following a brutal raid in late May that resulted in the killing of twelve Palestinians.

“People are afraid to leave their homes,” Frahat said, as quoted by The New York Times.

'Holding on its fingernails'

In many areas of Jenin, particularly near its refugee camp, Israeli troops using tanks and armored bulldozers have torn up roads, cut water and sewage pipes, damaged power lines, and destroyed numerous storefronts and UN offices, including a recently renovated medical clinic. A similar scene can be observed in Tulkarm, with its two refugee camps.

Jenin and some of its refugee camps are seen as strongholds of armed resistance against the occupation. "Israel" has conducted frequent raids over the years, yet since October 7, these raids have only intensified and seen the deployment of drones and other tactics unemployed before.

These raids have further devastated an already struggling economy. Amar Abu Beker, 49, chairman of the Jenin Chamber of Commerce, representing 5,000 businesses, said as quoted by NYT that 70 percent of them are struggling to survive.

The chamber is attempting to repair key roads damaged by Israeli occupation forces, as the Palestinian Authority lacks funds for such repairs, according to Abu Beker. Besides the damage from the checkpoint closures, the economy has also been strained by months-long general strikes in 2022 and 2023, held in solidarity with Palestinians massacred in Israeli raids.

“The Palestinian Authority is holding on by its fingernails,” Mr. Abu Beker said. “Without money, you can’t operate.”

'I'm sick of checkpoints'

A recent World Bank report highlighted the Palestinian Authority’s deteriorating financial health, noting it has "dramatically worsened in the last three months," significantly increasing the risk of fiscal collapse. The report pointed to a "drastic reduction" in tax transfers from "Israel" and a "massive drop in economic activity" as key factors.

Measures aimed at depriving the Palestinian Authority of funds, driven by far-right members of the Israeli government who are striving to occupy more Palestinian land in the West Bank and reoccupy Gaza, have raised global concerns.

US officials have reportedly pressured the Israeli government to release withheld taxes, which constitute about 70 percent of the authority’s income. On July 3, "Israel" agreed to release $116 million, though the Palestinian Authority affirmed it was owed nearly $1.6 billion.

Anas Jaber, 27, is one of the many Palestinians who lost their jobs. Reflecting on the dire situation, he stressed, “I’m sick of checkpoints, and I want to sleep at night."

'We are a people isolated and under occupation'

At the camp entrance, under the hot sun, Mahmoud Jalmaneh, 56, shared with NYT how his life had changed while trying to sell cheap tobacco from a dusty, wheeled glass cabinet—20 cigarettes for 4 shekels, about a dollar, compared to over $8 for Marlboros, which he does not sell.

Born and raised in the area, Jalmaneh has seven children. Last July, Israeli occupation forces blew up his house, he said. “I was a homeowner, and now I’m renting, with no money left to pay the rent when the landlord comes,” he explained.

“The checkpoints are closed,” Jalmaneh stated. “There’s no money, no salaries.”

“We are lonely. We are a people isolated and under occupation. We are fighting the whole world.”