GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza clothing manufacturers have ventured into the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the coronavirus outbreak in the region — and they're making the products for Israel.

Tailors in Gaza are working with Israeli companies and factories started to export protective masks, coveralls, shoes, gloves and other clothing to Israel in early March.

The garment sector used to be one of the most prosperous in the Gaza Strip, but business significantly deteriorated after Israel imposed a blockade in 2007 and prevented clothing exports from Gaza. Nearly 90% of the 928 facilities, which had employed about 35,000 workers, had to close, said Abdel Naser Awwad, director general of the Department of Industry at the Ministry of National Economy in Gaza.

Last year, Israel allowed Gaza to export limited quantities of clothing and textiles to the West Bank and Israel, in accordance with truce understandings between Hamas and Israel reached that March. As a result, about 6,000 workers regained their factory jobs. “The number of licensed factories operating [in Gaza] has currently reached 165," Awwad told Al-Monitor.