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UNESCO Ramallah Office and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities celebrate the inscription of two Palestinian World Heritage sites

On Wednesday 20 July 2016, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) and the municipalities of Bethlehem and Battir organized an official ceremony to celebrate the inscription of the two World Heritage properties in Palestine: “The Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem” and “Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir” on the prestigious World Heritage List.

The ceremony started at the MoTA during which the Representative of UNESCO in Palestine and Head of UNESCO Office in Ramallah, Dr. Lodovico Folin Calabi handed over the certificate of inscription of the Palestinian World Heritage properties to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, H.E. Rula May’a, as well to the Mayor of Bethlehem, Ms. Vera Babon and the Mayor of Battir, Mr. Akram Bader. The inscription of these properties on the World Heritage List  recognises their Outstanding Universal Value and the necessity for the adequate protection, conservation and management of such exceptional sites for future generations for the benefit of all humanity, as stipulated in the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage , ratified by Palestine on 8 December 2011.

H.E Ms. Rula May’a, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, pointed out during the ceremony that, " The inscription of the birthplace of Jesus has actively contributed to the renovation of the Nativity Church – occurring for the first time in history – and the inscription of the cultural landscape of Battir made a significant contribution to the protection of the site, mainly through the expansion of the separation wall”.

Ms. Vera Babon, the Mayor of Bethlehem, highlighted the importance of the historic and cultural heritage sites in Palestine and ensured the municipality’s commitment in the conservation and management of the World Heritage site of the Church of Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem. 

Mr. Akram Bader, the Mayor of Battir, thanked the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and UNESCO for their considerable support to Battir.

Dr. Lodovico Folin Calabi, Representative and head of UNESCO Ramallah Office, underlined the privileged and close cooperation between UNESCO and Palestine in the field of cultural heritage preservation. He  further reiterated that UNESCO is committed to  supporting Palestine in its efforts to fulfill its responsibilities within the framework of the World Heritage Convention and other cultural conventions of UNESCO ratified by Palestine.

He stated that "Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Effective conservation, management and promotion of World Heritage sites are crucial to ensure their transmission to future generations. Therefore, UNESCO will continue its financial and technical support to the relevant authorities in the safeguarding of the World Heritage sites in Palestine through the elaboration and effective implementation of a comprehensive conservation and management plan for these sites”.

After the ceremony, two commemorative plaques marking the inscription of the World Heritage sites were unveiled in Manger Square in Bethlehem and in Battir village. This was followed by a reception in Battir gathering the villagers and main stakeholders around the unique and local agricultural products from the World Heritage site.

In July 2012, the “ Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem ” was the first property in Palestine to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, and also on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The site is an outstanding example of an early church in a remarkable architectural ensemble, which illustrates two significant stages in human history in the 4 th and 6th centuries AD. It is directly associated with the birth of Jesus, an event of outstanding universal significance. It is a strong symbol for more than 2 billion Christian believers in the world and is Holy to Christians as well as to Muslims. More information about the site is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1433 .

The World Heritage property of “ Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir ” was inscribed simultaneously on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger in July 2014. Battir, which is an adaptation of a deep valley system for agricultural purposes as a result of a good supply of water, is a major Palestinian cultural landscape. The complex irrigation system of the water supply has led to the creation of dry wall terraces, which may have been in use since antiquity. The agricultural terraces, exploiting this irrigation system, were the basis for a strong presence of agriculture through the cultivation of olives and vegetables. The property is an outstanding example of traditional land-use, which is representative of many centuries of human interaction with the environment. More information about the site is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1492 .

For more information on this event and other events in Palestine, please contact: Majd Beltaji, Public Information Officer of the UNESCO Ramallah Office, at m.beltaji(at)unesco.org. More information on UNESCO’s activities in Palestine is available at:  www.unesco.org/ramallah

Welcome to Destination Palestine Tourism Open-Data Repository

A dedicated resource for industry stakeholders, the repository provides free access to a comprehensive collection of Palestinian tourism digital assets, including media, marketing materials, as well as data endpoints for tourist sites and service providers.

Hosted and maintained by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities , the platform ensures data integrity while offering API access and a set of open source developer tools, enabling collaboration between suppliers, entrepreneurs, marketers, content creators, and media producers.

This collaborative approach fosters entrepreneurial innovation in digital tourism marketing and content creation. 

Explore and leverage the power of reliable data to shape the future of Palestinian tourism.

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The Destination Palestine Media Library and part of its content was developed with the financial support of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Palestine Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities as the management unit and responsible curator of the Destination Palestine Media Library and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU or the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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Shopping cart items, palestine’s recovery plan for welcoming back tourists.

The capacity for the Palestinian tourism sector’s development and growth has always had great potential. Prior to COVID-19, Palestine was one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world. It’s a unique destination that, despite a complex political environment, appeals to a diverse range of tourists from all over the world; and has proven to be resilient with the ability to recover quickly.

In light of the recent global pandemic, the Palestinian tourism industry has especially been hit hard with mandatory closures imposed upon hotels, tour operator offices, touristic sites, facilities, and restaurants; directly affecting over 30,000 workers within the industry. 

The tourism sector has always been vital to the Palestinian economy and has attracted substantial investment across the tourism value chain thanks, in large part, to the efforts and accomplishments of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) . The Ministry has accomplished a great deal in the last few years in terms of developing the tourism sector such as getting the public and private sectors to work together in cooperation with national and international organizations, associations, and policymakers.

In order to rebuild and reopen the Palestinian tourism industry post-COVID-19, the Ministry implemented several initiatives with the aim to cope with the recent pandemic; provide solutions to support the tourism industry; and restore confidence in the Palestinian tourism industry in the eyes of international tour operators, governments, and ministries of foreign affairs.

The Ministry established the Palestine Tourism Recovery Taskforce (PTRT), comprised of representatives from the public and private sectors, who are responsible for implementing a systematic response plan to revitalize and restore confidence in the Palestinian tourism sector post-COVID-19. The task force includes representatives from the Arab Hotel Association (AHA), Holy Land Incoming Tour Operators Association (HLITOA), Palestinian Society of Tourist and Travel Agents (P.S.T.T.A), The Guide Union, and Network for Palestine Experiential Tourism Associations (NEPTO).

Working with the support of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSPD) of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and a team of specialists and consultants commissioned by GIZ, the task force developed the “ COVID-19 Tourism Operation Manual for Palestine ”. The manual is a COVID-19 prevention guidebook in compliance with international standards and protocols that outlines health and hygiene standards the tourism sector must uphold to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infections in order to reopen for business. The guidebook is built upon the standards put in place by Palestinian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and the World Tourism Organization.  

Within the same scope, the task force and GIZ also launched Jahzeen.ps , a tourism-readiness and resilience e-learning digital platform based on the operational manual. It’s an open platform and was created to enhance the capacities, skill sets, and proficiencies of individuals within the Palestinian tourism sector. It also aims to educate the industry and prepare them for national implementation audits. Jahzeen offers a wide range of training courses related to the different subsectors within the Palestinian tourism industry; and has proven to be a success after reaching a high volume of registered users only within a few weeks of its launch. 

Beyond these efforts, the Ministry organized a national team of auditors to conduct comprehensive onsite audits of hotels. The intention of which, is to thoroughly inspect the hotels and their facilities to ensure the implementation of COVID-19 specific standard operating procedures. While supporting the auditing team, GIZ commissioned the expertise of Hotel Resilient , an acclaimed German institute that is the world’s only scientific benchmarking and certification body for disaster risk management specifically focused on hotels and resorts.

Through the auditing process, hotel operators are required to use an online auditing and e-learning platform, developed by Hotel Resilient, and complete the COVID-READY module. The module is an in-depth e-learning courses for capacity building and risk management for hotels. After the audit is complete and the hotel meets all the requirements of COVID-READY standards, they are then rewarded with official certification signifying that they are in line with international COVID-19 mandatory standards and protocols and can officially reopen and resume operations. 

While the pandemic has been an important challenge for the Palestinian tourism sector, it’s only through innovation, adaptability, and cooperation that can help the sector recover. Palestine is the only country within the region to carry out a world-class standard of health and safety in its proactive measures to create a safe environment for visitors, tourists, and employees post-COVID-19; and be recognized as a safe travel destination ready to soon reopen and welcome back tourists. 

Learn more about the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities most recent developments and initiatives here .

Contributing members are responsible for the accuracy of content contributed to the Member News section of AdventureTravelNews.

Pilgrimage Tourism in Palestine: The Backbone of the Palestinian Economy

• First Online: 26 April 2023

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• Rami K. Isaac 6  

Part of the book series: Perspectives on Asian Tourism ((PAT))

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In Palestine, tourism is the backbone of the national economy, and pilgrimage accounts for a significant part. However, the social-cultural and economic impacts of tourism and specifically pilgrimage tourism, are not sufficiently studied. This chapter sets out to fill this gap – to analyse the socio-cultural and economic impacts of pilgrimage tourism, also touching upon the political implications facing the pilgrimage tourism market. Its intention is to formulate a new tourism discourse about the country’s political, social, economic, and religious situation. To do this, in addition to the government tourism strategies, the chapter reviews the recent developments associated with the UNESCO world heritage sites and protection initiatives, whose intention included boosting the pilgrimage tourism sector.

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Isaac, R.K. (2023). Pilgrimage Tourism in Palestine: The Backbone of the Palestinian Economy. In: Progano, R.N., Cheer, J.M., Santos, X.M. (eds) Host Communities and Pilgrimage Tourism. Perspectives on Asian Tourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9677-1_8

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Project Year: 2020

Funding : German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV), German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)

Partners: Palestine Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MOTA), Arab Hotel Association (AHA)

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COVID-READY

Government cooperation, standards development, training and capacity building.

In a project funded by the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV) and commissioned by German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Hotel Resilient has been working in Palestine since June 2020 with the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities (MoTA), the), the Palestine Tourism Recovery Taskforce, GIZ and other partners to develop the COVID-19 Tourism Operation Manual for Palestine. In addition, Hotel Resilient trained a national team of auditors and tailored our audit software to allow hotels to conduct self-audits to ensure compliance with national standards. 

Through the auditing process, hotel operators are first obliged to use an online auditing platform, developed by Hotel Resilient, which scores the hotel’s readiness, prevention, and response strategy to COVID-19. The audit includes task management software that can point out relevant areas that need improvement. Once a hotel operator completes the COVID-READY module and applies the necessary standards and protocols within their hotel and facilities, the national auditing team is invited to conduct a comprehensive onsite audit; thoroughly inspecting the hotel to ensure the implementation of COVID-19 specific standard operating procedures before they can officially reopen and resume operations.

Hotel Resilient’s risk specialists have been intensely involved from the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, reviewing international guidelines, industry best practices and the latest scientific research related to the pandemic. We are proud to say that the COVID-19 Operation Manual for Palestine is one of the most detailed and comprehensive manuals of its kind. The standards align with international standards and best practices but are tailored to the needs of the Palestine tourism industry through the valuable input of the project partners. From hotels to food vendors, museums to donkey rides and nargila bars, all facets of tourism are covered.   

Download the Palestine COVID-19 Tourism Operational Manual here . The Palestine COVID-19 health and safety protocols have been fully integrated into the Hotel Resilient software, and we are supporting hotels during this crisis, by making the Hotel Resilient software and COVID-READY audit tool available for free.

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Gazans are paying tens of thousands of dollars to an Egyptian company to escape

Some are turning to gofundme to raise the money to get out of gaza. in some cases, americans are pitching in..

Some Gazans who have lost everything are trying to raise tens of thousands of dollars to pay a company with reported ties to Egypt's security state to help them evacuate their families across the border from Rafah.

One of them is Ahmed Jamal, 35, an English teacher whose two small children wake up screaming and crying most nights, wet their beds, hide and won't come out because they are scared they are going to die.

"Our situation is getting worse each day," Jamal said in a phone interview Saturday from his sister's bombed-out home in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza. "I can't express to you how we are living: hardly any food, no water, not enough gas, no power. People like me don't feel there is anything left to do but leave Gaza."

Jamal and his sister Amal Nassar, whose challenges being pregnant in Gaza during the war were chronicled by USA TODAY, are hoping that once they have enough money , Hala Consulting and Tourism Services, a travel agency in Cairo connected to Egypt's military and intelligence agencies, will help their families cross the border.

Pregnant women in Gaza Strip: They face starvation, no anesthesia

The situation has become especially acute as fears grow Israel may soon invade Rafah as part of its war aim of rooting out Hamas and securing hostages held since the militant group's deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 . If the invasion goes ahead, it is not immediately clear how the Rafah border crossing will be affected.

More than 2 million people remain trapped in Gaza , about half of them in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city.

Escape from Gaza

For Palestinians, leaving Gaza for Egypt or anywhere else has never been easy because of a yearslong sea, land and air blockade by Israel, which Israel says it needed to ensure its security and protect from threats of terrorism . Before the war, the Erez crossing in north Gaza, controlled by Israel, allowed some Gazans to cross over to Israel for work. For a few hundred dollars, travel companies like Hala helped people journey to Egypt for short stays. But the Erez crossing has been closed since Oct. 7, shuttered by Israel for its military campaign and as a buffer from terrorism threats. And today, Hala is asking Gazans to pay about $5,000 for an adult and $2,500 for a child to help them leave the enclave.

Other Gazans have reported paying even more.

Finding that kind of money is far beyond the means of most Gazans at a time when few are able to work or get basic food and supplies. Many, like Jamal and his sister, are turning to platforms such as GoFundMe , with their money-raising campaigns run by friends, relatives and even well-wishing strangers in the U.S. and Europe.

"I just refuse to rest until families like theirs are safe," said Megan Bayra, a Californian who is helping to coordinate fundraising for several Gazan families on GoFundMe, including Jamal's and Nassar's .

Bayra has offered to host Nassar and her three kids in a guest house on her property if they manage first to get to Egypt and then secure a visa or asylum-seeker status to travel to the U.S., which is not easy.

Exactly how Hala arranges the crossings from Gaza into Egypt is not fully transparent. The company did not respond to a request for comment. What's clear, according to multiple Palestinians who are either in the middle of using its services to arrange to leave or have already left Gaza for Egypt, is that the service can be accessed only by having someone in Egypt physically go into its office in Cairo to register and make the payments in cash.

Requiring payment in U.S. dollars

The payment must be in U.S. dollars. A receipt is issued, but there is no apparent way to communicate with Hala directly. Instead, those who are registered are asked to monitor lists of names that Hala publishes on its Facebook and Telegram accounts each day that detail who will be allowed to cross into Egypt and when. Once the payment is made , approval to cross appears, for many, to take at least two weeks.

The payment to Hala includes transportation by bus and an entry permit to Egypt that lasts for at least a year. Extra fees can be added to the headline price to accelerate the process.

How many Gazans in Egypt not clear

Even before the war, the process by which Gazans have used Egyptian travel services to cross into Gaza spurred allegations that the system is susceptible to abuse such as bribery, corruption and fake payments, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project , a global network of investigative journalists.

For more than a decade, the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing has been overseen by Hamas' interior ministry; Egypt's security forces, including its General Intelligence Service, have controlled the other side. Israel has long monitored the crossing from a nearby military base in coordination with a civilian agency named COGAT. Earlier this year, Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s state Information Service , denied what he described as the "unfounded allegations" that Gazans were being charged additional fees to cross the border during the war.

GoFundMe's website does not allow Gazans to start their own campaign pages if they are located inside the territory. It must be done by someone outside Gaza in the U.S. or Europe. The company did not return a request for comment on what security processes it has in place to make sure that third parties that raise money on behalf of Gazans are vetted.

Its website is full of Gazans trying to raise money to pay for Hala's services .

Haisam Hassanein, an Egyptian-American expert on the Middle East at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington foreign policy and national security think tank, said it is not easy to calculate how many Gazans may have been able escape Gaza for Egypt since the start of the war.

Gazan cafes and restaurants opening near Cairo

He said, however, that one indication many people are escaping has been the proliferation of Gazans opening up small businesses such as cafes and restaurants in Cairo and other parts of Egypt. Some are paying social media influencers to market their services. Hassanein said Hala's service is "an exclusive one for those who have the money. Egypt is interested only in Gazans who have the cash and are going to benefit its economy."

Jamal said that he is doing everything he can to get his family out of Gaza and that virtually everyone he knows in his circle of friends and family are doing the same. He said that he is besides himself with fear for the safety of his wife, Anhar, 32, his son, Jamal, 4, and daughter, Teya, 2. On top of that fear , he feels deep shame , he said, over having to ask strangers to help him raise the money that could be his family's only hope of survival.

More: Pentagon begins building floating pier to ferry humanitarian aid to Gaza

"What else can I do? What else?" he said Saturday, increasingly agitated.

He also said that while his family waits to see if they will be able to leave Gaza , he spends his days trying to distract his children with games of one kind or another. One of their favorite things to do is jump on a trampoline. They have a small one on the roof of his sister's building in Deir Al-Balah. It is partly broken.

"I just want them to forget everything around them."

Palestinian prime minister announces new reform package

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Even With Gaza Under Siege, Some Are Imagining Its Reconstruction

International development agencies have been meeting with Middle East business interests and urban planners to map out an economic future for the territory.

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By Peter S. Goodman

On a December morning in central London, more than two dozen people drawn from influential institutions across the Middle East, Europe and the United States gathered in a conference room to pursue an aspiration that, at that moment, verged on preposterous. They were there to plan for the reconstruction and long-term economic development of Gaza.

Gaza was under relentless bombardment by Israeli military forces in response to terrorist attacks launched by Hamas in October. Communities throughout the territory were being reduced to rubble, and tens of thousands of people had been killed. Families confronted the immediacy of hunger, fear and grief.

Yet at the meeting in London, members of the international establishment discussed how to eventually transform Gaza from a place defined by isolation and poverty into a Mediterranean commercial hub centered on trade, tourism and innovation, yielding a middle class.

The group included senior officials from American and European economic development agencies, executives from Middle Eastern finance and construction companies, and two partners from the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Officially, they were attending only as individuals, not as representatives of their institutions.

The plan they produced is far removed from the dire reality confronting Gaza today. Turning it into reality would require the end of a war that has left the territory devastated, to say nothing of tens of billions of dollars in investment. It would also demand resolution to the monumental and entirely uncertain political question of who eventually controls Gaza, and then the cooperation of that authority. All of that makes the plan well short of a blueprint for action.

Yet participants maintain that the mere exercise of mapping out a more prosperous future holds value because it can prepare the way for projects once conditions are suitable — a notion that has propelled such planning in conflict zones like Kuwait , after it was invaded by Iraq, and Ukraine .

“We are proposing to connect Gaza to the world over the long term,” said Chris Choa, founder and director of Outcomist, a London firm that designs large-scale urban development projects, and one of the initial conveners of the group, known as Palestine Emerging.

Among those involved are Hashim Shawa, chairman of the Bank of Palestine, a commercial bank; Samer Khoury, chief executive of Consolidated Contractors International, a construction company engaged in major projects across the Middle East; and Mohammed Abukhaizaran, a board member of the Arab Hospitals Group, a medical provider in the West Bank. All would potentially have a stake in the eventual work of rebuilding.

“As soon as the war started, my team and I started developing a plan to build a facility in Gaza as soon as the war ends,” Mr. Abukhaizaran said in an interview.

The group is clear that the most pressing work is the delivery of food, water, health care and emergency shelter to the residents of Gaza, who are now contending with catastrophe. But the primary focus of its plan is on the rebuilding that would unfold over the next decades.

“The Gaza war needs to end immediately, and there will be an incredible and immediate humanitarian effort,” Mr. Abukhaizaran said. “But we also need to think long term about building a better future for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The initiative, one of several under discussion, has gained the interest and advice of major international funding organizations including the World Bank, said a senior agency official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk publicly. The bank views the plan as a useful contribution toward a strategy that could generate jobs in Gaza by integrating the territory into the global economy.

Representatives for U.S. government agencies have attended Palestine Emerging workshops and offered counsel on the details of the plan, a senior American official said, also speaking on the condition of not being named. American engagement with the initiative has been driven by the assumption that greater economic opportunity in Gaza is necessary to undercut popular support for Hamas, the official added.

The plan centers on a series of major projects, including a deepwater port, a desalination plant to provide drinking water, an online health care service and a transportation corridor connecting Gaza with the West Bank. A fund for reconstruction and development would oversee future undertakings.

The most forward-looking components, such as reducing customs barriers to trade and introducing a new currency in place of the Israeli shekel, assume the eventual establishment of Palestinian autonomy, a step that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to resist . He has also brushed aside the prospect that the future governance of Gaza could include a role for the Palestinian Authority , the most obvious potential partner for the reconstruction initiative.

The enormous price tag of any rebuilding is another impediment. The toll of the damage to Gaza’s crucial infrastructure has reached $18.5 billion, according to a recent estimate by the World Bank and the United Nations. Half the population is on the verge of famine, and more than a million people lack homes.

Who might deliver such funding is among the largest variables. A previous development plan for the Palestinian territories advanced by the Trump administration in 2019 envisioned substantial investment from Persian Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The new initiative has yet to engage with the gulf countries, Mr. Choa said.

The imperative for development in Gaza predates the current war. The unemployment rate in the territory was more than 45 percent in 2022, according to the World Bank. More than half the population was living in poverty , according to the International Monetary Fund.

While visions of modern transportation systems may now seem tangential to Gaza’s essential needs, the plan is governed by the assumption that even temporary structures like emergency housing and health care facilities must be thoughtfully placed to avoid squandering future possibilities.

“Temporary tends to become permanent very quickly,” Mr. Choa said. “Someone says, ‘We’re going to put this big refugee camp right here,’ but that could be exactly where you want to put a wastewater treatment plant or a transit line in the future. You then create an obstacle.”

Mr. Choa, 64, has spent much of his international architectural career wrestling with such details. After the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, he took part in a commission assigned the task of sketching out the future of Lower Manhattan. He later lived and worked in China, where he oversaw master plans in major urban areas. After moving to London in 2006, he continued such work in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

He first grappled with a detailed plan for Gaza in 2015 through work commissioned by Palestinian business interests. He led several missions to Gaza, meeting with the Palestinian Authority and the arm of the Israeli Defense Forces that administered the territory. But the pandemic and Israeli concerns about security halted the effort.

In the wake of the Hamas attacks on Israel in October, he sought to revive the project, joining forces with Baron Frankal, chief executive of the Portland Trust, a London-based organization that pursues economic opportunities for Palestinians.

After the December meeting in London, an expanded group of 58 gathered in Washington in early March. A meeting was held recently in Ramallah, a city in the West Bank. Another meeting is planned for Tel Aviv in early June.

The group has briefed the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Mr. Frankal said. One member of the initiative, Wael Zakout, a former World Bank official, recently joined the cabinet of the incoming Palestinian government.

The group has not engaged Hamas, which had overseen Gaza since 2007 and is widely condemned as a terrorist organization.

“If Hamas are still players, people are not going to invest tens of billions of dollars,” said Stephen Byers, a former British cabinet secretary in the Tony Blair government, who attended the London meeting.

The ideas that have emerged from the workshops extend into the next quarter-century. These include the erection of a cutting-edge soccer stadium and the elevation of the existing soccer team to a more internationally competitive level, and the creation of a strategy to encourage a Palestinian film industry.

The deepwater port would be established on an artificial island built from the nearly 30 million tons of debris and rubble that are expected to cover the territory whenever the conflict is over, with removal anticipated to take as long as a decade.

The plan proposes the establishment of a degree-granting Technical University of Reconstruction in northern Gaza that would draw students from around the world. They would study strategies to dig out from disaster and spur development, using postwar Gaza as a living laboratory.

The destruction is so extensive that the usual means of administering aid and overseeing rebuilding will be inadequate, the World Bank official said.

American government agencies face legal restrictions on working directly with the Palestinian Authority. Other institutions are reluctant to transact with the Palestinian Authority given its reputation for corruption. All of this makes private companies critical elements of the plan, even as they too will grapple with the risks of investing in a highly uncertain climate.

While the largest projects require clarity over the future political administration of Gaza, other initiatives, such as those aimed at encouraging small businesses, could begin as soon as military activities cease.

“I want to focus on how we open the bread store, how we get factories up and running,” said Jim Pickup, chief executive of the Middle East Investment Initiative, a nonprofit that finances development projects. “Every truck that is going to remove rubble is a small business itself, supporting a family.”

An earlier version of this article misstated the attendees at a meeting in December in London. While the managing director of the World Economic Forum had planned to attend, he did not because of a schedule conflict.

How we handle corrections

Peter S. Goodman is a reporter who covers the global economy. He writes about the intersection of economics and geopolitics, with particular emphasis on the consequences for people and their lives and livelihoods. More about Peter S. Goodman

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

News and Analysis

As diplomats converged in the Middle East, seeking a cease-fire in Gaza , Israel wrestled with whether to go forward with a ground invasion of Rafah , a city in the enclave’s south where more than a million Palestinians have fled the war.

Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants  for senior government officials on charges related to the conflict with Hamas.

World Central Kitchen said that it would resume operations in Gaza  with a local team of Palestinian aid workers, nearly a month after seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli attack.

Campus Protests in the U.S.: On quads and lawns from coast to coast, U.S. colleges are grappling with a groundswell of student activism  over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Administrators are having to make controversial decisions .

Cracking Down on Protests: Grief and rage over the Gaza war and Israel have led to demonstrations across the Arab world. Arrests suggest governments fear the outrage could boomerang .

Imagining Gaza’s Reconstruction: International development agencies have been meeting with Middle East business interests and urban planners to map out an economic future for the territory .

Showing Liberal Dismay: Representative Mark Pocan, the progressive Democrat from a rural, mostly white Wisconsin district, is determined to let President Biden know that it is not just young people of color who are concerned about the war .

'We need a miracle' - Israeli and Palestinian economies battered by war

More than six months into the devastating Gaza war, its impact on the Israeli and Palestinian economies has been huge.

Nearly all economic activity in Gaza has been wiped out and the World Bank says the war has also hit Palestinian businesses in the occupied West Bank hard.

As Israelis mark the Jewish festival of Passover, the much-vaunted "start-up nation" is also trying to remain an attractive proposition for investors.

The cobbled streets of Jerusalem's Old City are eerily quiet. There are none of the long queues to visit the holy sites - at least those that remain open.

Just after Easter and Ramadan and right in the middle of Passover, all four quarters of the Old City should be teeming with visitors.

Just 68,000 tourists arrived in Israel in February, according to the country's Central Bureau of Statistics. That's down massively from 319,100 visitors in the same month last year.

While it may be surprising that any visitors pass through Jerusalem at a time of such tension, many of those who do are religious pilgrims from across the globe who will have paid for their journeys well in advance.

Zak's Jerusalem Gifts was one of only a handful of stores on Christian Quarter Street in the Old City, which is situated in occupied East Jerusalem, to have bothered opening up on the day I passed by.

"We're only really doing online sales," says Zak, whose business specialises in antiques and biblical coins.

"There are no actual people. The last week, after the Iran-Israel escalation, business dropped down again. So we are just hoping that after the holidays some big major miracle will happen."

It's not just in Jerusalem's Old City that they need a miracle.

Some 250km (150 miles) further north, on Israel's volatile border with Lebanon, almost daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah since the war in Gaza began have forced the Israeli army to close much of the area and 80,000 residents have been evacuated further south. A similar number of Lebanese have been forced to leave their homes on the other side of the border.

Agriculture in this part of Israel is another economic sector that has been hit hard.

Ofer "Poshko" Moskovitz isn't really permitted to enter his avocado orchard in the kibbutz of Misgav Am because of its proximity to the border. But he occasionally ventures in anyway, walking wistfully among the trees, to gaze at all of his "money falling on the ground".

"I must go to pick in the orchard because it's very important for the next season," Poshko says. "If I don't pick this fruit, the next season will be a very poor one."

He says he is losing a lot of money because he can't pick the avocados - around 2m shekels ($530,000; £430,000) this season, he says.

Although they provide a living for thousands of people, agriculture and tourism account for relatively small parts of both the Israeli or Palestinian economies.

So what does the wider picture show?

Last week ratings agency S&P Global cut Israel's long-term ratings (to A-plus from AA-minus) reflecting a loss of market confidence after increased tensions between Israel and Iran and concerns the war in Gaza could spread across the wider Middle East.

That loss of confidence was also reflected in falling Israeli GDP - the total value of goods and services produced in the economy - which decreased by 5.7% in the last quarter of 2023. Many Israelis though say the country's renowned high-tech and start-up sector is proving to be more "war-proof" than expected.

The coastal city of Tel Aviv is only 54km from Jerusalem. More pertinently, perhaps, it's less than 70km from Gaza.

At times, you'd be forgiven for forgetting - however momentarily - that Israel is embroiled in its longest war since independence in 1948.

Families make the most of the early summer sun to play in the surf, couples eat lunch in the many open-air beach restaurants and young people strum away on guitars on the green spaces between the coastal road and the Mediterranean.

The backdrop is a city that is economically active and physically growing fast.

"They joke that Israel's national bird should be the crane - the mechanical kind!" says Jon Medved, founder and CEO of the online global venture investment platform Our Crowd.

An engaging character with an overwhelmingly upbeat view of his world, Medved tells me that, "in the first quarter of this year, almost $2bn was invested in Israeli start-ups… We're having one of the best years we've ever had. People who are engaged with Israel are not disengaging."

Medved insists that, despite everything, Israel is still the "start-up nation" and a good option for would-be investors.

"There are 400 multinational corporations that have operations here. Not a single multinational, has closed its operation in Israel since the war."

To an extent, Elise Brezis agrees with Mr Medved's assessment.

The economics professor at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv acknowledges that despite the last quarter's GDP figures, Israel's economy remains "remarkably resilient".

"When it comes to tourism, yes, we have a reduction in exports. But we had also reduction in imports," says Brezis. "So in fact, the balance of payments is still okay. That's what is so problematic is that from the data, you don't really feel that there is such a terrible situation in Israel."

But Prof Brezis detects a wider malaise in Israeli society that isn't reflected in economic data.

"Israel's economy might be robust, but Israeli society is not robust right now. It's like looking at a person and saying, 'Wow, his salary is high,' [...] but in fact he's depressed. And he's thinking, 'What will I do with my life?' - That's exactly Israel today."

If the outlook in Israel is mixed, then across the separation barrier that divides Jerusalem and Bethlehem the view from the Palestinian side is overwhelmingly bleak.

Tourism is especially important to the economies of towns like Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

While some people are still heading to Jerusalem's sites, in the place where Christians believe Jesus was born tourism "stopped immediately" after 7 October last year, says Dr Samir Hazboun, chairman of Bethlehem's Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

That's when Hamas attacked Israeli communities near Gaza, killing about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, taking about 250 hostages and sparking the current war.

There's huge dependence and reliance on Israel's economy here - but Israel virtually closed off the landlocked West Bank after 7 October and this has had a disastrous impact on the life and work of many Palestinians, Dr Hazboun says.

"The Bethlehem governorate right now is closed," he says. "There are around 43 gates [in the Israeli security barrier] but only three are open. So with between 16,000 and 20,000 Palestinian workers from our area working in Israel, immediately, they lost their income."

The chamber of commerce says that the revenues from local Palestinians working in Israel amounted to 22bn shekels ($5.8bn)annually.

"You can imagine the impact on the economy," says Dr Hazboun, who is particularly concerned for the prospects for younger Palestinians the longer the war continues and more the Israeli and West Bank economies decouple.

"The younger generation now are jobless, they are not working. Many of them are talented people," he laments.

"In June I'm expecting around 30,000 new graduates from the Palestinian universities. What they will do?

In Gaza itself the economy has been completely destroyed by six months of war. Israel's relentless aerial bombardment and ground operations have killed 34,183 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Unlike in some parts of Israel, where there is optimism around being able to ride out the storm and continue attracting investors, in the West Bank and Gaza there is little hope things will return to any kind of normal.

World Brief: Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian Student Protesters Arrested at U.S. Campuses

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Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian Student Protesters Arrested at U.S. Campuses

From columbia university to the university of texas at austin, demonstrations have been met with police responses amid accusations of antisemitism..

• Human Rights
• United States

Israel-Hamas War

News, analysis, and background on the ongoing conflict

More on this topic

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities, extensive flooding in East Africa , and Russia vetoing a U.N. resolution on nuclear weapons in space.

Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.

U.s. university arrests.

Police this week arrested hundreds of pro-Palestinian student demonstrators on college campuses across the United States as university administrators struggle to find a balance between allowing free speech and maintaining a safe environment for all students and faculty.

Among students’ demands, they have urged their universities to stop investing in companies that provide support to Israel and to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions as well as called for a cease-fire in Gaza and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Although reports suggest that the protests have been largely nonviolent, some students and faculty—including many who are Jewish—have reported feeling intimidated or unsafe because of the demonstrations and even being targeted in antisemitic attacks.

Photos and videos have circulated on social media of protesters in some instances expressing antisemitic slogans and support for Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Some activist groups involved in organizing the protests have made public statements denying antisemitism and saying their criticism is reserved for the Israeli state and its supporters.

The protests gained national attention last Wednesday at Columbia University in New York City after students formed an encampment on campus to demand that the school stop its “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” including companies involved in weapons manufacturing.

The protests came the same day that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik testified before a U.S. House of Representatives committee about how the school responds to charges of antisemitism on campus. Shafik was the latest university president to face criticism for allegedly failing to combat antisemitism, with House Republicans interrogating the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on their policies late last year. Harvard and Penn’s presidents have since resigned after evading questions about whether students should be punished for calling for the genocide of Jews.

Seemingly in recognition of the spotlight on her, Shafik requested that New York police disband the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment, saying students were trespassing and threatening the university’s security. More than 100 people were arrested. The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute condemned the arrests, and the school’s newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator , compared the incident to crackdowns on the university’s anti-war protesters in 1968.

Since then, solidarity protests have arisen at universities across the country, and many have been met with similar police responses that have seen hundreds of students and faculty arrested . Some schools have canceled classes or moved them online.

The tumult has also reignited an ongoing national conversation about free speech—and its limits—on university campuses and beyond that has seen high-profile politicians weigh in. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was arrested during last Thursday’s demonstration at Columbia, has expressed support for the protesters. On Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and several of his fellow Republican lawmakers held a press conference at Columbia calling on the school’s president, Shafik, to resign “if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.” He was met with boos from nearby protesters.

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday that he condemns the “antisemitic protests” but added, “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that Biden believes in the importance of free speech, debate, and nondiscrimination on college campuses , adding that “students should feel safe.”

Today’s Most Read

• New Zealand Becomes the Latest Country to Pivot to the U.S. by Derek Grossman
• Ukraine Is Still Outgunned by Russia by Jack Detsch
• A Tale of Two Megalopolises by Jan-Werner Müller

What We’re Following

Climate woes. Torrential rain and flash floods have wreaked havoc across East Africa this week. On Thursday, Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said at least 155 people had been killed and more than 230 others injured, urging anyone living in low-lying areas to seek higher ground. Officials report that the storm has affected around 200,000 people and damaged more than 10,000 homes. Majaliwa blamed the El Niño climate pattern for worsening the country’s rainy season.

In Kenya, at least 38 people have been killed and more than 40,000 others displaced in the flooding, over 30,000 of whom were living in Nairobi. Thousands of acres of crops have also been destroyed, and at least 118 inmates at a facility near the capital escaped on Wednesday after heavy rains damaged the prison. Local government is “ clearly overwhelmed ,” Edwin Sifuna, the Nairobi County senator, wrote on X. The nation’s Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that government agencies were beginning a joint operation to conduct search and rescue operations and evacuate those at risk.

Weapons in space. Russia vetoed a United Nations resolution on Wednesday that called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction into space. This would reaffirm a principle established in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The United States and Japan co-sponsored the draft, which only Moscow out of the U.N. Security Council’s 15 members voted against; China abstained.

Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, condemned the draft as “absolutely absurd and politicized,” arguing that it doesn’t go far enough in banning all types of space weapons. Moscow and China co-proposed an amendment “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.” Seven council members voted against that measure, including Washington.

In response, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday reiterated previous claims that Russia “is developing a new satellite carrying a nuclear device.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Kremlin is “ categorically against ” the use of such weapons in space.

State-backed executions. Human Rights Watch published a report on Thursday accusing Burkinabe forces of killing at least 223 civilians in February. The massacres took place in two northern villages during a state-backed counterinsurgency campaign against people who allegedly collaborated with Islamists who attacked a military camp near the provincial capital, Ouahigouya. At least 56 children were among the dead.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Burkina Faso since jihadi violence emerged there around nine years ago, with many Islamist fighters linked to al Qaeda or the Islamic State. Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a military coup in September 2022, promised to combat militant violence, but the army itself has been responsible for numerous atrocities . Last November, state forces killed at least 70 people, including infants, for allegedly cooperating with militants.

Odds and Ends

Namibian authorities have blacklisted three foreign tourists from entering the country’s national parks after they posed naked at Big Daddy dune, one of Namibia’s top attractions. “It is very sickening, and it really [creates] a bad image for Namibia,” Kenneth Nependa, the vice chair of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations, told the Namibian Sun . Public indecency is punishable under Namibian law; however, some people argued that there’s nothing wrong with a little sunbathing.

Alexandra Sharp is the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy. Twitter:  @AlexandraSSharp

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