Ezra Friedman // A #Gaza seaport: New ideas for conflict management | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

22.3.18

A Gaza seaport: New ideas for conflict management | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: The Strip has become a ticking time bomb, with its almost two million residents growing increasingly desperate. However, there is potential for an improvement to both the economic and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. An idea that has been discussed for more than 25 years now seems to be gaining fresh momentum: building an offshore seaport, which would be supervised by Israel along with relevant international observers, to end Gaza’s isolation while addressing Israel’s security concerns.

A dire economic situation. Gaza’s 2014 round of conflict with Israel caused $1.7 billion in losses to the enclave’s economy. The unemployment rate is over 40 percent among the general population, with youth unemployment at almost 60 percent. This in turn contributes to the low gross domestic product per person, which hovers around $1,000 a year.