Palestinian Authority “Prime Minister” Salam Fayyad said Tuesday that approximately 50,000 PA Arabs had left Judea, Samaria, and Gaza since 2006. More PA Arabs had left PA-controlled areas in the past two years than in previous years due to the Hamas takeover in Gaza and political instability and infighting in Judea and Samaria, he said in an investors’ conference in Bethlehem.
Fayyad criticized Hamas and other opponents of the dominant Fatah party, saying they were undermining the PA and thus leading PA Arabs to seek to emigrate. He called on investors to create new jobs for PA Arabs in order to reduce emigration and strengthen the Arab presence in “Palestine.”