RAMALLAH, West Bank — The economy in the West Bank is teetering toward collapse as Israel maintains a web of restrictions that limit opportunities for Palestinians, according to a new report from a leading conflict tracker.

The International Crisis Group said that Israeli measures restricting movement, withholding revenue and taking land are not only crippling the Palestinian economy but also fueling deep instability.

“The economic conditions necessary for any Palestinian future other than permanent subjugation are being dismantled,” it said.

The report, based on interviews with Palestinian business leaders, mayors and government officials, detailed the financial crisis afflicting companies, households and the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which administers some cities and towns in the West Bank.

It said Israeli policies suggested a concerted effort to “advance Israel’s own declared goal of extending its control and preventing a Palestinian state from emerging.”

Israel took control of the West Bank from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967. In the decades since, waves of terror attacks against Israelis drew the imposition of tight security measures across the territory, and the Palestinian economy has been hobbled by checkpoints and military gates that curtail movement of people and goods.

Households and businesses have relied heavily on jobs and imports tied to Israel, and faced restrictions on land and trade. The roughly 3.4 million Palestinians living in the West Bank today face roughly 30 percent unemployment and have seen their economy contract substantially since the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip that sparked the subsequent multifront war.

In the wake of the Hamas onslaught, Israel revoked work permits for most of the nearly 200,000 Palestinians who had worked there previously. The move, for which Israeli officials cited security motivations,........

© The Times of Israel