Gaza economy nearing collapse

GAZA, July 18 (UPI) -- With 75 percent unemployment, Gaza's economy appears on the brink of crashing within weeks if Israel keeps vital trade crossings blockaded.

More than 68,000 workers have lost their jobs since Gaza's borders were closed in mid-June, following sectarian violence there between the Hamas and Fatah factions, Nasser el-Helou, a prominent Gaza businessman, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The United Nations said it provides food aid to 80 percent of Gaza's 1.4 million people.

While some border crossings have been opened in recent weeks to deliver humanitarian supplies, no industrial material has entered Gaza, meaning construction and manufacturing have ground to a halt. Also affected are projects that are funded by the United Nations, worth about $93 million and offering jobs to 121,000 people, the United Nations told Haaretz.

John Ging, director of the United Nations Relief Works Agency in Gaza, said he plans to plead Gaza's case to the Quartet of Mideast mediators -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- who are scheduled to meet in Portugal with their newly appointed envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.