One million Israelis live below poverty line

OCCUPIED AL-QUDS, Jan. 30 (YPA) – An Israeli report revealed on Friday that nearly one million people live below the poverty line, including about 880,000 children.

The poverty report, issued by the so-called “Insurance Institute,” confirmed that this number represents about 20% of the total population of the occupied territories, with children comprising 28% of that figure.

The report explained that Israel’s situation is extremely serious regarding child poverty, ranking first among OECD countries in terms of child poverty prevalence, surpassed only by Costa Rica.

Among the most prominent figures in the report, poverty rates are significantly lower in occupied Jaffa (Tel Aviv) and the central region, reaching about 14-15%, while they rise in the south and north of the occupied Palestinian territories to 21-22%.

In the occupied Jerusalem area, the situation is particularly catastrophic, with a poverty rate of 36.5%, whereas the settlement of Modi’in Illit is among the poorest areas, with nearly half of its residents, approximately 50%, living below the poverty line.

In addition, the report noted the impact of demographics on poverty rates, indicating that the poverty rate among non-Orthodox Jews does not exceed 11%, while poverty rates among ultra-Orthodox Jews and Palestinians rise to approximately 38%, with the rate among children in these groups approaching 50%.