economic activity thanks to improved security within the city, successful battle against corruption and large consumer base. In 2011, the Palestinian Planning Minister said that GDP growth was expected to reach 9%, rising to 10% in 2012 and 12% in 2013. East Jerusalem East Jerusalem was once the business and shopping hub of the West Bank. However, since the advent of Israeli security checkpoints and the separation barrier starting over a decade ago, it has become isolated from its customer base leading to serious economic decline. According to Hanna Siniora of the Palestinian-American Chamber of Commerce, the turning point was 1993. He states that since then East Jerusalem has become a closed city through isolation from the rest of the West Bank causing a loss of 50% of its business between 1993 and 2001. According to a 2012 report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and interviews conducted by the Forward, the decline of the economy in East Jerusalem has led to unprecedented levels of poverty, with 80% of the Palestinian population living below the poverty line. The main cause is seen as the political and physical barriers separating it from the rest of the West Bank. The ACRI report attributing the problem to "'the cumulative effects of annexation, neglect, rights violations and the completion of the separation barrier." Another contributing factor to the economic decline is the housing situation. The Israeli government has facilitated extensive construction for Israeli settler neighborhoods, but has severely restricted development and building for the Palestinian population. Gaza Strip According to CIA's The World Factbook, Israel's closure policy, which was extended when the Hamas administration came to power in 2007, was responsible for high levels of poverty and unemployment and a significant decline of the private sector which was heavily reliant upon export markets. Israel blamed Hamas for taking actions that led to the closure policy. A large part of the population is dependent on humanitarian assistance, primarily from the UN agencies. An easing of Israel's closure policy in 2010 resulted in an improvement in some economic indicators, but regular exports from the Gaza Strip were still prohibited. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the economy improved in 2011, with a drop in unemployment and an increase in GDP. New malls have opened, local industry is developing and the economic upswing has led to the construction of hotels and a rise in the