ABSTRACT
The Gaza Strip serves as a market for West Bank products, with around one-third of the firms there selling to Gaza. When the Israelis arrived in 1967 they for all practical purposes imposed a common market on the Gaza Strip. This changed the former dependence of Gaza on Egypt to one of dependence on Israel and the Israeli economy. The classifications of major industrial branches differ here from the West Bank because of the different distribution of industry in Gaza and the method of data collection of the Central Bureau of Statistics. Right through the entire period of occupation most of the establishments were small in size, with an average employment of less than four workers. The industry specializes in low-cost furniture. In terms of wages it pays the highest percentage of revenue of all industries listed. Gaza Strip industry is clearly under-capitalized and very labor-intensive. But even this low level of mechanization was not effectively utilized.
