to $816 million. According to Nader Tamimi, chair of the Association of Traditional Industries in the PA, there are regular interactions between Palestinian and Israeli businessmen. At a conference hosted by the Faculty of Business and Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2012, Israeli and Palestinian trade experts met to discuss ways of promoting cross-border business interactions. In 2013, commercial trade between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were valued at US$20 billion annually. The continuously increasing transactions led to the creation of the joint Palestinian and Israeli initiative, the Jerusalem Arbitration Center (JAC). The center will specialize as an independent institution focusing on business arbitration between Israelis and Palestinians. Due to the clearance crisis with Israel, the Palestinian economy was severely hit in terms of public finances, according to the World Bank's report in 2019. World Bank Acting Country Director for West Bank Gaza Anna Bjerde said, "The economy, which in 2018 saw no real growth, is now facing a severe fiscal shock because of the standoff over clearance revenue transfers." The report states, "Against a background of declining aid flows, the recent standoff stemmed from Israel’s unilateral deduction of US$138 million from the PA’s clearance revenues in 2019 to offset estimated payouts to Palestinian martyrs and prisoners' families." Conflict In 2006, the unity of the Palestinian economy was fractured following Fatah-Hamas split prompting Israel to sever direct ties between the West Bank and Gaza. The following war in 2008–2009 destroyed most of the economic infrastructure of the Gaza Strip and left the Palestinian economy without any remaining activity and $1.4 billion in debt. The Oslo Accords in 1993 aimed to prevent this, but was unable to keep the Palestinian economy from fluctuating. Currently, the Palestinian economy lives on foreign aid and customs revenue between Israel and Palestine. However, Israeli restrictions continue to hamper and fragment the Palestinian economy. By 2008, 71% of the Gaza Strip's population was unemployed. The import and export prosperity in Palestine was impacted by the border restrictions and constant Israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza, which also weakened the industrial and agricultural sectors. In order for the Palestinian economy to be prosperous, the restrictions on Palestinian land must be removed. In the West Bank, the Israeli restrictions caused the Palestinian economy to lose $3.4bn (%35 of the annual GDP), according to The Guardian and a report for World Bank. Development indicators