GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Escalating unemployment rates, poverty and the lack of job opportunities in the Gaza Strip are pushing college graduates with medical-related degrees to "lease" them to would-be business owners or investors.

Leasing the degrees, in fields such as optometry, laboratory medicine and pharmacology, provides income for graduates crippled by unemployment and those who don't have enough money to open their own medical facilities. There is a strong demand for these degrees among people seeking to invest in the medical field who don't have the necessary qualifications and certifications.

According to a statement issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in July, around 30,000 Palestinians graduate each year from Palestinian institutions of higher learning. The unemployment rate among university graduates who obtained a bachelor's degree in Gaza reached 69.5% in 2014.

Reham Ayman said her 2014 optometry degree from the Islamic University of Gaza proved worthless, except that she was able to lease it for 800 shekels ($210) a month.