Summary
During the period under review, the Palestinian economy continued to suffer hardship and decline. In the aftermath of Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip and the formation of a new Palestinian Authority Government under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the West Bank witnessed some modest economic recovery. The Gaza Strip, however, continued to experience drastic economic decline and private sector collapse due to a near-complete closure. There was significant progress in reform and pledges from international donors in the amount of $7.7 billion for a three-year period to enable the implementation of the new Palestinian Reform and Development Plan.
These developments reflected the de facto political split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from June 2007 onwards. While bilateral political negotiations resumed between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the context of the November 2007 Annapolis conference and the parties committed to reaching an agreement by the end of 2008, the situation in and around Gaza was characterized by near-daily rocket fire against Israeli targets and Israeli aerial attacks and military incursions.
The present report describes efforts made by United Nations agencies and programmes, in cooperation with Palestinian Authority and donor counterparts, to support the Palestinian civilian population and institutions.