Friday, December 21, 2001
RAMALLAH - Half of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are living on less than $ 2 a day, UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told reporters yesterday.
He said that 46 percent of Palestinians are living in poverty and the Palestinian economy has suffered a $ 3.4 billion loss during the last year. Conditions have never been so bad in the 34 years since Israel took control in the 1967 Six Day War, he added.
According to the army, 5,800 Palestinian workers have permits to cross into Israel, and another 6,000 Palestinians work at Israeli-operated industrial areas in the West Bank and Gaza. The army says it has also removed some restrictions on the movement of trade in and out of Palestinian areas.
Roed-Larsen said Israel must do more to ease restrictions on the lives of ordinary Palestinians and should unfreeze $ 350 million in tax revenue owed to the Palestinian Authority. It's not only the Palestinian Authority who has to exert a 100 percent effort; the Israeli side also has to show their good intentions and to ease the closure, he said.
He suggested there was a glimmer of hope that the two peoples are close to a turning point in conflict, saying that the Israeli army has begun to pull back and Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat has started to move against militant groups. He cautioned that political talks must begin again if any truce is to hold.
No cease-fire can be held for a long time if there are no immediate political talks and resumption of negotiations, said Roed-Larsen, a veeteran of the peace process goin back to the secret Oslo negotiations.
"Our goal now is to achieve a point where we can have a viable independent Palestinian state living side by side with the Israeli state, he said.