The Cost of Israeli Settler-Colonial Occupation on the Palestinian People

المؤلفون

  • مؤلفون

  • Tareq Sadeq
  • Mahmoud Elkhafif
  • Raja Khalidi

الكلمات المفتاحية:

Cost of Occupation، Economic Losses، Research Methodologies، Settlement Project، Israeli Occupation

الملخص

This study reviews the available literature to estimate the economic cost borne by the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, covering the period 1948-2022. It seeks to develop a methodology through which a broad estimate of the economic cost of the occupation can be generated, drawing on existing studies and available evidence to assess the cumulative economic losses incurred by Palestinians over this period. It advances three methodologies for such an assessment: aggregation, counterfactual estimation, and occupation gains. The choice of methodology depends on the type of economic variables being assessed. By updating cost estimates employed in previous studies, the analysis indicates that Israel’s gains from its settlements and its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period 2000-2022 range between US$955 billion and US$1.707 trillion. Furthermore, when estimating the value of the losses resulting from the Nakba of 1948 in 2022 terms, material losses are found to have increased from US$3 billion to US$719 billion between the two years.

المراجع

  1. Based on the Pinheiro Principles on refugees and post-Cold War reparations, see: United Nations Economic and Social Council, “Housing and Property Restitution in the Context of the Return of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons,” 28/6/2005, accessed on 15/9/2025, at: https://acr.ps/hBy2szM. See also: United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner, Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (A/Res/60/147), 21/3/2006, accessed on 15/9/2025, at: https://acr.ps/hBy2sjb
  2. Nehemiah Robinson, Indemnification and Reparations: Jewish Aspects (New York: Institute of Jewish affairs, American Jewish Congress, 1944).
  3. Night-Time Luminosity (or Night-Time Lights, NTL) is the measurement of artificial light radiance emitted from the Earth's surface at night. Captured by satellite sensors, NTL serves as a key indicator of human activity, urban expansion, economic development, and population density. (Translator)
  4. Arab Property and Blocked Accounts in Occupied Palestine (Cairo: League of Arab States, 1956).
  5. Yusif Sayigh, The Israeli Economy (Beirut: PLO Research Centre, 1966), pp. 92-133.
  6. Atef Kubrusi, “An Economic Assessment of Total Palestinian Losses in 1948,” in: Sami Hadawi & Atef Kubrusi, Palestinian Rights and Losses in 1948: A Comprehensive Study (London: Saqi Books, 1988), pp. 113-189.
  7. United Nations General Assembly, Resolution 394 (V), Palestine: Progress Report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine; Repatriation or Resettlement of Palestine Refugees and Payment of Compensation Due to them , A/RES/394 (V) (New York: 14/12/1950), accessed on 12/7/2025, at: https://bit.ly/4lrAGR6
  8. United Nations General Assembly, Progress Report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine Covering the Period from 23 January to 19 November 1951 , A/1985 (Paris: 1951), accessed on12/7/2025, at: https://bit.ly/44YHy2u
  9. The Palestinian pound was approximately equal to the pound sterling.
  10. Arab Property and Blocked Accounts in Occupied Palestine.
  11. Kubrusi. Source: Atef Kubrusi, “An Economic Assessment of Total Palestinian Losses in 1948,” in: Sami Hadawi & Atef Kubrusi, Palestinian Rights and Losses in 1948: A Comprehensive Study (London: Saqi Books, 1988); Atef Kubrusi, “Palestine Losses in 1948: Calculating Refugee Compensation,” Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, 3/8/2021, accessed on 7/9/2025, at: https://acr.ps/1L9GQ2H
  12. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation , Note by the Secretary-General, General Assembly, Seventy-first Session, Item 35 of the provisional agenda (Geneva: 2016).
  13. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Alternative Policies for Sustainable Palestinian Development and State Formation (Geneva: 2009).
  14. Orhan Niksic, Nur Nasser Eddin & Massimiliano Cali, Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy (Washington DC: The World Bank Group, 2013).
  15. Ministry of National Economy of the State of Palestine, The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ), The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Bethlehem: 2011).
  16. See Paragraphs 31ff. of this report: United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Trade and Development Board, Report on UNCTAD’s Assistance to the Palestinian People: Developments in the Economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory , Fifty-eighth Session (Geneva: 2011).
  17. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Cumulative Costs (Geneva: 2019).
  18. The 21.5% figure represents the average for the period 2000-2017, whereas this percentage reached 26.6% in 2017.
  19. Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (Washington DC: The World Bank Group, 2016).
  20. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Trade and Development Board, Report on UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People: Developments in the Economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory , Sixty-second Session (Geneva: 2015).
  21. Xavier Stephane Decoster et al., Telecommunication Sector Note in the Palestinian Territories: A Missed Opportunity for Economic Development (Washington DC: The World Bank Group, 2016).
  22. Niksic, Nasser Eddin & Cali.
  23. Walid Mustafa, al-Mwārid al-Ṭabīʿiyya fī Filasṭīn: Muḥaddidāt al-Istighlal wa-Āliyyāt Taʿẓīm al-Istifāda (Ramallah: Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute – MAS, 2016).
  24. Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ), The Economic Cost of the Israeli Occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Bethlehem: 2015).
  25. The United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was established pursuant to United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/17, dated 24 January 2007. It focuses on damages related to the construction of the apartheid wall in the West Bank, including within and around East Jerusalem. However, it does not cover any other measures undertaken by the occupying power. See: “The Separation Wall,” Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B'Tselem), 11/11/2017, accessed on 15/9/2025, at: https://acr.ps/1L9BPa3
  26. United Nations, General Assembly, “Letter Dated 8 July 2024 from the Secretary-General Addressed to the President of the General Assembly,” 18/7/2024, accessed on 15/9/2025, at: https://acr.ps/1L9GPKN
  27. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People.
  28. This is the price that held at the time the study was prepared in 2018. By the final quarter of 2024, it stood at around $68.00.
  29. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People.
  30. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Impoverishing Gaza Under Siege (Geneva: 2020).
  31. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Incurred by the Palestinian People Due to the Israeli Occupation: Constraining Development and Aggravating Poverty in the West Bank (Geneva: 2021).
  32. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: Losses Arising from Additional Restrictions Imposed in Area C, 2000–2020 (Geneva: 2022); United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: The Cost of Restrictions Imposed in Area C from Space (Geneva: 2022).
  33. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: Losses Arising from Additional Restrictions Imposed in Area C, 2000–2020 , p. 2.
  34. Arab Property and Blocked Accounts in Occupied Palestine.
  35. Sayigh, pp. 92-133.
  36. Kubrusi, pp. 113-189.
  37. An annual growth rate of 4% was assumed to avoid overestimation. This is a conservative rate when compared to the actual growth rate of Jordan’s economy, which grew at an annual average of more than 5% between 1948 and 2022. Source: The figures reflecting the value of losses as of 2022 were prepared by the authors.
  38. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: Losses Arising from Additional Restrictions Imposed in Area C, 2000–2020 ; United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: Losses Arising from Additional Restrictions Imposed in Area C.
  39. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Alternative Policies for Sustainable Palestinian Development and State- Building ; United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Cumulative Costs.
  40. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Cumulative Costs ; United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Incurred by the Palestinian People Due to the Israeli Occupation: Constraining Development and Aggravating Poverty in the West Bank ; United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: The Cost of Restrictions Imposed in Area C from Space.
  41. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Cumulative Costs.
  42. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Incurred by the Palestinian People Due to the Israeli Occupation: Constraining Development and Aggravating Poverty in the West Bank.
  43. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: The Cost of Restrictions Imposed in Area C from Space. Source: Ibid.
  44. Ibid. East Jerusalem and Settlements Israel Source: United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation: The Cost of Restrictions Imposed in Area C from Space (Geneva: 2022), p. 29.
  45. The assumption underlying this conclusion is that the estimated gains made by the Israeli economy are equivalent to the losses inflicted on the Palestinian economy as a result of Israeli settlement. However, given the disparities in technology, productivity, and production inputs, this assumption may not necessarily be accurate. Be that as it may, the question remains: What would prevent the Palestinian economy, including its technology, productivity, and production inputs, from equaling those achieved by the Israeli economy if there were no occupation? These estimates can thus be utilized to determine both the annual rental value and the total monetary value of the assets that have been appropriated.
  46. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Input-Output Tables,” accessed on 13/7/2025, at: https://bit.ly/3TCYxkw
  47. Thijs Ten Raa, The Economics of Input-Output Analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Seyit Kerimkhulle et al., “The Use Leontief Input-Output Model to Estimate the Resource and Value Added,” paper presented at 2022 International Conference on Smart Information Systems and Technologies (SIST), Kazakhstan, 28-30/4/2022.
  48. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, The Economic Costs Borne by the Palestinian People Under Israeli Occupation. Source: Prepared by the researchers.
Cover of العدد 21, Almuntaqa

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منشور

2026-09-01

إحصاءات الاستخدام

50 مشاهدة 49 تنزيل

إصدار

مجلد 9 عدد 021 (2026): العدد 21

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الحقوق الفكرية (c) 2026 المنتقى

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