Gaza, ALRAY - Minister of Economy Dr. Alaa al-Rafati accompanied by Head of the General Union of the Palestinian Industry, Ali al-Hayek and Representative of the Industries Federation, Mohammed al-Mansi have visited on Monday a group of factories in the Gaza Strip.

This visit came under the framework of following-up the industrial process after the closure of the tunnels, the suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip and the scarcity of raw materials and basic equipment needed for factories, such as fuel, and the continuous outage of electricity.

al-Rafati said during a visit to Sharaf’s  factory for gas cylinders, which was stopped due to the lack of materials, "Palestinian industry is the backbone of our national economy.”

 “The ministry is exerting great efforts to study the industrial reality in Gaza and  drawing policies to promote the local products,” He added.

The minister pointed out that a number of decisions taken earlier have contributed to improving the national industry by adopting the policy of import substitution which was implemented at the beginning of this year.

He noted that the Israeli occupation is launching an economic war against Gaza, stressing that the closure of crossings in Gaza has  led to untold damage.