NABLUS, Wednesday, October 19, 2022 (WAFA) – The continued Israeli military punitive siege on the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the largest city in the occupied West Bank, for the ninth consecutive day has left a substantial negative impact on various sectors in the city’s economy, today said the director of Nablus Chamber of Commerce and Industry Omar Hashem.

He said that the siege continues to have an impact on the daily lives of the city's Palestinian residents and businesses, explaining that trade was affected by a rate between 40-70%, productivity in factories was affected by 50%, and marketing, sales, and transportation of goods and products were affected at different rates according to each sector, which indicates the direct impact of the siege on the city economy.

Hashem said the siege prevents people from throughout the West Bank to come to Nablus for shopping or whatever other reason and businesspeople in Nablus from traveling to buy products and goods from other areas in Palestine or abroad.

Board member of the Nablus Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Yasin Dweikat, slammed the siege and closure imposed on Nablus as a collective punishment that affects the economy in Nablus and in Palestine in general, adding that the siege aims to subjugate the Palestinian people.

T.R./M.K.