The Gaza Strip has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world – more than 50% – and an exceptionally young population. As more young people fall in love under the blockade, couples are turning to loan agencies to get married, and falling into crippling debt in the process.
Small business owners in Gaza grapple with mounting debts and no means of income, after their enterprises were destroyed in the escalation with Israel last May.
In Gaza, failing to pay a personal or bank loan is punishable by a maximum 91-day prison sentence. With the economy plummeting, more and more Palestinians are winding up in prison for loans taken out to cover household expenses and modest rents– 90,000 last year, by one report.