This year, International Workers’ Day arrives as Gaza endures one of its darkest periods, amidst a war that has raged since October 2023, leaving the economy and labor market with barely any semblance of survival. With widespread destruction and the collapse of infrastructure, hundreds of thousands of workers find themselves outside the production cycle, a scene that reflects the transformation of work from a fundamental right into a daily struggle for survival.
Data released by the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions shows that the war has caused a near-total collapse of the economic infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, with the number of unemployed reaching approximately 550,000, equivalent to 38% of the total workforce in the Palestinian territories. Workers’ losses have exceeded $9 billion, indicating the magnitude of the blow dealt to the local economy.
These figures are inseparable from the scale of the physical destruction. Local estimates indicate that approximately 90% of the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip was damaged or destroyed, leaving behind nearly 70 million tons of rubble. This has reshaped the economic and social landscape of Gaza, transforming it into a space where production has been halted.
In this reality, the nature of work has changed. In the Khan Younis area, 30-year-old Younis Saleh stands behind a small cart selling cups of corn, having lost his job at a private company in Rafah. He recounts that the war not only destroyed his job but also took his home.
He adds that his company is now located beyond what is known as the “Yellow Line,” areas seized by the Israeli army during the war and from which it refuses to withdraw, making access to his former workplaces virtually impossible. According to the Ministry of Labor, approximately 37,000 commercial establishments were completely destroyed.
Data from the Ministry of Labor indicates the complete destruction of approximately 37,000 commercial establishments, which effectively means the immediate loss of tens of thousands of jobs. These transformations reflect a forced shift from a formal economy to a subsistence economy, where stable jobs are replaced by precarious, marginal work.
According to the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, this most vulnerable segment of the population has been the hardest hit by the war and the 17-year-long blockade. Workers’ incomes have vanished as factories and workshops have almost completely shut down, forcing them to rely on humanitarian aid.
Figures indicate that tens of thousands of workers in vital sectors have been laid off, including 20,000 in transportation, 40,000 in construction, 10,000 in tailoring, 35,000 in agriculture, 5,000 in tourism, and 40,000 in metal industries, in addition to 4,000 fishermen. This leaves the sector facing an unemployment force of nearly half a million people.
