By Neelam Rahim

Palestinian markets witnessed sales stagnation before Eid al-Adha, which started on July 9 in Palestine, due to the rocketing prices of products.

For the second year in a row, Ibrahim Sabaaneh, a Ramallah-based man, was unable to shop for a sheep for the feast.” In the past, I used to buy the sheep for 200 U.S. dollars, but now it requires about 350 dollars, which is a heavy burden on behalf of me,” the 47-year-old father of 4 complained.

The celebration of Eid al-Adha isn’t limited to sacrifice. Other essential things, like new clothes, sweets, and decorations, must be provided for the festival.

“At the present deteriorating condition, I can only provide some food and sweets to arrange my family to celebrate the festival,” he explained.

According to Arab News. Father-of-eight Mustafa Al-Hadidi, a 48-year-old working person from Ramallah, fears he won’t be ready to properly participate in Eid Al-Adha celebrations or complete traditional seasonal rituals this year.

His fears seem justified. Prices have soared in recent weeks within the Palestinian Territories, which is now considered one of the foremost expensive places within the Arab world. For instance, the price of a sheep for sacrifice has reached $500 within the West Bank. Al-Hadidi said that the spiralling prices are even causing arguments that sometimes end in families calling it quits.

Al-Hadidi said that Eid al-Adha supplies’ economic process means that families must search out a minimum of $300 extra to buy them compared with last year.

“Ramallah has become the most expensive city within the world,” he added, as he accused Palestinian leaders of not doing enough to curb the greed of merchants and control prices.

“The Palestinian government is subordinate to Israel in terms of raising prices and if I were of the new generation, i would have left the country and emigrated.”

According to Al-Hadidi, the Palestinian Authority appears indifferent about the economic process as many agencies that import food items have close ties to senior officials within the authority.

After the announcement last month by the PA that public-sector workers would only receive partial wages, Al-Hadidi questioned how they could live to tell the tale of only 70 or 80 per cent of already meagre salaries.

Economist Nasr Abdel Karim says, “The Palestinian economic condition may be a complex situation that’s linked to different circumstances that affect it directly and indirectly, like the Ukrainian-Russian war which has indirectly affected the economy through the joint trade channel with Ukraine, additionally to the clear and significant impact of the Israeli-occupation policies followed by the Palestinian government.”