GAZA, Gaza Strip — According to official figures published by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics on Feb. 16, the unemployment rate in Palestine climbed to 26.9%, with 360,500 unemployed out of a total workforce of 1.3 million in Palestine, while the poverty rate in the Gaza Strip exceeded 80%, according to the Zakat Department affiliated with the Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments.

Despite these staggering figures, the Palestinian Cabinet announced Feb. 15 the cancellation of all health insurance benefits granted to unemployed citizens starting March 1.

The Cabinet decision irked and outraged civil society organizations. On Feb. 15, the coalition of economic and social rights (a coalition of more than 55 Palestinian civil society organizations and trade unions) called on the Council of Ministers to renounce its halt of health insurance benefits for the unemployed, saying the government's decision is a violation of the Palestinian Basic Law.

Suheil al-Hindi, the Field Research Department coordinator at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “The government's decision is unjust to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families who cannot afford health service costs, which would put their lives at risk. The government should have held prior discussions with civil society organizations on this unjust decision instead of making up false justifications.”