BETHELHEM (Ma’an) -- On the outskirts of Jerusalem, there is a Palestinian drug den that social workers say is languishing under Israel's failure to control the problem.

Anti-drugs campaigner Abdul Jabbar Yaraqan told Ma'an TV the number of Palestinian drug addicts has reached 60,000 in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Accurate figures in Israeli-controlled East Jerusalem are hard to estimate accurately, he noted.

Near Shufat refugee camp, an area beyond the Palestinian Authority's reach, some Palestinian drug addicts even say Israeli authorities have abandoned the problem on purpose.

Nasser Hamamrah, a social worker at the Al-Huda center for rehabilitation for addicts, says East Jerusalem organizations are not equipped to deal with the flood of drugs amongst East Jerusalem youth.