{"id":311137,"date":"2025-09-15T14:50:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T18:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=311137"},"modified":"2025-09-15T14:51:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T18:51:30","slug":"un-experts-15sep25","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/un-experts-15sep25\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s financial stranglehold on the occupied Palestinian territory must end: UN experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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15 September 2025<\/p>\n

To learn more about Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the Question of Palestine, click here to visit the dedicated webpage.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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GENEVA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 UN experts* today warned of the severe economic emergency and catastrophic harm to human rights stemming from Israel\u2019s attacks on the Gaza strip and its wider financial stranglehold across the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cEconomic life in Gaza has been decimated by sheer physical destruction, blockade and siege, and repeated forced displacement,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

They stressed that most commercial, agricultural and industrial assets have been damaged. Unemployment has surged to over 80 per cent. GDP has dramatically shrunk, and trade stalled. Poverty is endemic. Famine has been declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is now a liquidity crisis in Gaza,\u201d the experts said. Most banks and ATMs have been destroyed. Israel has blocked the inflow of new currency, with severe cash scarcity driving drastic cost-of-living inflation and a decline in the value of wages. Cooking oil prices rose by 1,200% and flour by 5,000% by mid-2025. Humanitarian workers are reportedly losing nearly 40 per cent of their salaries just to access their wages. Digital payments are impeded by electricity and telecommunications outages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disproportionate civilian harm caused by Israel\u2019s blockade and siege violates international humanitarian law and the economic and social rights of Palestinians,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsraeli laws restricting UNRWA, and the suspension of its funding by the United States, have put thousands of jobs at risk and impede the vital humanitarian assistance that is even more critical due to Gaza\u2019s economic collapse,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The experts noted that the occupied West Bank is also under increasing financial strain. Israel has arbitrarily diverted and withheld tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority, preventing salary payments and undermining liquidity, in violation of the Oslo Accords.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael has threatened not to renew the annual waiver of terrorist financing laws that allows Israeli banks to process transactions with Palestinian banks in November 2025,\u201d the experts said. \u201cThis would cut Palestinians off from the global financial system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work permits have been suspended for 100,000 Palestinian workers, slashing cash inflows that previously represented a quarter of all gross national income.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese measures exacerbate heavy economic losses from the illegal taking of land and the illegal exploitation of natural resources by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

In the past two years, restrictions on the Palestinian economy have intensified purportedly to counter terrorism, resulting in unjustified de-risking by global banks, account closures, and blocked humanitarian transfers.<\/p>\n

\u201cCumulatively, these measures seriously violate Israel\u2019s obligations to guarantee the human rights to an adequate standard of living, work, food, water, sanitation, health, life, and freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,\u201d the experts said. \u201cThey also violate Israel\u2019s obligations as the occupying power to maintain economic life for the benefit of the population, and not to illegally expropriate property or exploit natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese measures also impede the collective rights of the Palestinian people to economic self-determination, control over their natural wealth and resources, and development,\u201d they said. \u201cIsrael must refrain from intervening in the State of Palestine through economic coercion and respect its sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The economic rights of the Palestinian people have been repeatedly affirmed by the\u00a0International Court of Justice<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0General Assembly<\/a><\/em>, and most recently at the\u00a0High-Level International Conference<\/a><\/em>\u00a0on Palestine in July 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on Israel to immediately lift the blockade and siege of civilians in Gaza, end violations of international humanitarian law, remove currency restrictions, restore cash flows, establish secure cash distribution systems, and facilitate digital payments,\u201d the experts said. \u201cIsrael must also commit to the permanent renewal of the banking waiver in the occupied West Bank and stop holding Palestinian tax revenues to ransom.\u201d<\/p>\n

They recalled that the\u00a0International Court of Justice\u2019s 2024 advisory opinion<\/a><\/em>\u00a0demanded that Israel bring its illegal occupation to an end as soon as possible. The General Assembly has\u00a0given<\/a><\/em>\u00a0Israel a deadline of 17 September 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community must act urgently to compel Israel to stop violating fundamental rules of international law, respect the economic rights of the Palestinian people, alleviate the humanitarian crisis and prevent financial collapse,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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*The experts:<\/strong><\/p>\n