hindered access to existing or alternative markets in Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramallah through increased congestion, travel times and overall expenses has made Palestinian agriculture virtually impossible. According to a study by the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ), Bethlehem’s farmers predominantly sell their products in local Bethlehem markets rather than targeting other markets.243 This is especially the case because Bethlehem’s agricultural sector has lost its competitive advantage in comparison to subsidized Israeli products,244 leaving Palestinian producers competitive only in markets in their immediate vicinity. The consequence is a severe decline in the agriculture industry, which had customarily constituted the basis of economic life in Bethlehem. In fact, in 2018, agricultural jobs accounted for just 3.5 percent of the employment sector in Bethlehem,245 having dropped considerably from 11.6 percent in 2000.246 This contraction is replicated all over the West Bank where the sector’s share in GDP has steadily declined over the years: in only one year, between 2015 and 2016, it fell from 3.4 to 2.9 percent,247 while agricultural jobs as a percentage of the employment sector across the West Bank fell from 12.5 percent in 2000 to just 6.3 percent in 2018.248 Consequently, whether through directly limiting Bethlehem residents’ physical access to their lands, isolating or preventing them from accessing markets in Jerusalem, or diminishing their efficiency through imposed checkpoints and congestion, the outcome is the same: a contraction of Bethlehem’s agricultural sector and a transfer of human resources to other industries. A similar trend is evident in the stone and marble quarrying industry, which makes up 25 percent of Palestinian industry revenue.249 Notably, Palestine is 243 ARIJ, Palestinian Agricultural Production and Marketing between Reality and Challenges (Bethlehem: ARIJ, 2015), 34, available at: www.arij.org/files/arijadmin/IDRC/finalcermony/Palestinian_ Agricultural_Production_and_Marketing_between_Reality_and_Challenges_2015.pdf 244 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Working Inside the Green Line (Geneva: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2017), 4, available at: https://unctad.org/en/ PublicationsLibrary/tdb64d4_embargoed_en.pdf 245 PCBS, “Statistics Table 30: Percentage Distribution of Employed Individuals Aged 15 Years and Above from the West Bank by Sex, Economic Activity and Governorate,” in “Palestinian Labour Force Survey: Annual Report 2018” [Arabic], 2019, 93, available at: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2433.pdf 246 PCBS, “Statistics Table 27: Percentage Distribution of Employed Persons from the West Bank by Economic Activity, Sex and Governorate (Place of Residence),” in “Palestinian Labour Force Survey: Annual Report” [Arabic], 2000, 75, available at: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book713.pdf 247 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, supra 245, 4. 248 PCBS, supra 246, 93; PCBS, supra 247, 75. 249 International Trade Center, The State of Palestine National Export Strategy: Stones and Marble Sector Export Strategy 2014-2018, 6, available at: https://www.paltrade.org/upload/multimedia/ admin/2015/04/553dcf8d2d3e8.pdf 68