On a quick tour of sewing machines, Hassan Shehadeh gives speeches motivating and encouraging workers inside his factory north of Gaza City, which specializes in the production of respirators and medical clothing.
Since the appearance of the Corona virus in the Palestinian territories last March, the factory has worked to export its products to both Israel and the West Bank.
Shehadeh calls out loudly, urging the workers to tighten their energy and finish the production of the quantity they are working on, in order to expedite their export as soon as possible, and then sip a little coffee that became his days and helped him in the exhaustion caused by not being able to sleep a few hours per day, because of his busyness in Work inside the factory.
Matching specifications
Shehadeh says that the factory is currently operating at double the production capacity, and at a pace they have not been accustomed to since the start of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip in 2006.
This, according to Shehada, contributed to partial compensation for the losses incurred during the past years, which exceeded hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He says that they are importing the cloth used to make masks and medical clothing from Israel, but they are currently suffering from its scarcity due to the increasing demand on it globally, and they have become unable to provide what the local market demands.
The owner of the factory adds that all the production of the factory is currently directed to external export.
The factory currently employs about 200 workers, whose tasks vary between sorting and cutting fabric, sewing, folding medical clothing and packing them in aseptic bags appropriate to them, then preparing goods for transport to warehouses and from there to the Karm Abu Salem commercial crossing linking the Gaza Strip with Israel.
Regarding the conformity of what the factory produces to international medical specifications, Shehadeh says that if our production was not excellent and in compliance with safety and quality conditions, and meets the need of health institutions, Israel and private companies in the West Bank would not have resorted to importing from us with these huge quantities that we sometimes can not fully meet.
It is noteworthy that the local garment and sewing industry was among the best economic sectors in Gaza until the year 2006, when Israel imposed the blockade, when about 900 factories were operating inside the sector, employing more than 35 thousand workers.
However, the situation differed after the siege, as the majority of factories closed their doors and laid off their workers. Currently, only 150 small factories are operating in the sector, employing about 1500 workers, according to Gaza Chamber of Commerce reports.