A report carried in the local media estimates that the once-thriving footwear industry in the Palestinian Territories has contracted by as much as 70% in the past two years as a result of the Intifada (uprising) being waged.

In the main industrial city of Hebron, which has been under almost continuous Israeli military control since April as a result of the Intifada, employment in the sector has plummeted from around 10,000 two years ago to around 3,000.  The lack of a stable government, the absence of effective import restrictions, the disintegration of the local infrastructure and the imposition of curfews are the main reasons cited.

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