DaysofPal – Livestock markets in the southern West Bank city of Hebron are uncharacteristically quiet just days before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Local traders describe this shopping season as one of the most challenging in decades, brought on by a deepening financial crisis, soaring prices, and severely diminished Palestinian purchasing power.
Inside the market, hundreds of sheep stood lined up in pens while traders waited for hours hoping for customers who rarely arrived. Vendors attempted to attract buyers through various offers, fearing the season could end with heavy financial losses.
This year’s holiday comes under severe economic conditions, compounded by delays in the payment of public sector salaries and escalating attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian livestock breeders, causing direct damage to one of the West Bank’s vital agricultural sectors.
Market Activity “Almost Frozen”
Palestinian sheep trader Mohammad Ahmad Al-Labib, who has worked in the livestock trade for nearly fifty years, said market activity this year was “almost completely frozen” compared with previous Eid seasons.
“In past years, I used to sell at least fifty sheep before Eid,” he said. “This year, I have sold only five.”
Al-Labib explained that sheep prices have risen sharply over recent years, noting that the price per kilogram of sheep meat had increased from five Jordanian dinars to around ten and a half dinars.
Livestock and real estate transactions in the West Bank are commonly conducted in Jordanian dinars, with one dinar equal to approximately 1.41 US dollars.
He said the worsening economic crisis had severely weakened Palestinians’ ability to purchase sacrificial animals for Eid.
“People have no money,” he said. “Some cannot even afford food and water, so how can they buy sheep for Eid?”
According to Al-Labib, shrinking job opportunities and irregular payment of government salaries have further deteriorated living conditions and directly affected commercial activity in the markets.
The West Bank has experienced a worsening economic crisis for months alongside the ongoing war in Gaza and escalating Israeli military raids and settler attacks across Palestinian towns and cities.
On April 30, data published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics showed unemployment in the West Bank rising to 28 percent during the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 13 percent in the third quarter of 2023.
The number of employed Palestinians also declined from 868,000 workers in the third quarter of 2023 to around 736,000 by the fourth quarter of 2025, marking a 15 percent decrease. The decline particularly affected construction, mining, manufacturing, transportation, storage, and communications sectors.
Settler Attacks Deepen the Crisis
In another section of the market, trader Ismail Bani Hassan pointed to the declining number of sheep available for sale compared with previous years, attributing the shortage to rising breeding costs and repeated settler attacks targeting livestock owners in the Bedouin areas and Masafer Yatta south of Hebron.
“Today, one sacrificial sheep may cost around 700 dinars, while people are barely able to meet their basic needs,” he said.
Bani Hassan accused Israeli settlers of attacking shepherds “almost daily” and stealing livestock, contributing to declining sheep numbers and higher prices.
“The settlers have made life difficult for us in every way,” he added. “Breeders are actually losing their livestock, and this has directly affected the market and prices.”
Nearby, trader Riyad Al-Jabareen sat beside his sheep pen watching the weak market activity. Al-Jabareen lives in Masafer Yatta, where settler attacks against Palestinian shepherds and homes have intensified in recent months.
The latest incident occurred early Thursday morning, when settlers allegedly infiltrated a Palestinian residential area and stole between 45 and 50 sheep.
Al-Jabareen estimated that demand for sacrificial animals this year had fallen to “no more than 20 percent” of previous years.
“The economic situation is extremely difficult,” he said. “People have more urgent priorities than buying a sheep for Eid.”
Financial Crisis and Lack of Support
Al-Jabareen linked the decline to the severe financial crisis facing Palestinians amid rising prices and irregular salary payments by the Palestinian Authority.
“If government employees get paid at all, they receive only 1,000 to 1,500 shekels,” he said. “How can they afford to buy a sacrificial animal?”
One US dollar is equivalent to approximately 2.8 Israeli shekels.
The Palestinian Authority has faced a prolonged financial crisis since 2019, which sharply worsened during 2025 as budget deficits and unpaid obligations climbed to an estimated 4.26 billion dollars, according to Palestinian figures.
Since 2019, Israel has deducted portions of Palestinian tax revenues under various pretexts and has suspended transfers entirely over the past nine months, pushing the Palestinian Authority into a severe financial crisis that has left it unable to fully pay public sector salaries.
Al-Jabareen also criticized the lack of government support for farmers and livestock breeders, saying settler violence had directly damaged the sheep farming sector and contributed to rising prices.
Some breeders and traders, he said, had lost “dozens of sheep” due to settler attacks and theft, while many were increasingly unable to access grazing lands or protect their livestock, particularly near settlements and settlement outposts.
Rising Violence Across the West Bank
Recent months have witnessed a sharp escalation in settler attacks against Bedouin communities and shepherds, especially in the Jordan Valley and Masafer Yatta areas south of Hebron. These attacks have included livestock theft, assaults on shepherds, and preventing access to grazing lands, according to repeated Palestinian reports.
The attacks form part of a broader rise in settler violence across the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission documented 1,637 settler attacks during April alone.
At the same time, the Israeli military has intensified operations across the West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza on October 8, 2023, including raids, arrests, killings, and property destruction.
According to Palestinian figures, Israeli military operations and settler attacks in the West Bank since then have killed 1,162 Palestinians, injured nearly 12,245 others, and resulted in the arrest of approximately 23,000 people.
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