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Almost a year after Israel launched offensives against Gaza in retaliation to Hamas’ attack in October 2023, the Gazan economy has been destroyed amid a severe humanitarian crisis, a report by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has stated.
The report mentioned that Gaza’s economy has shrunk by 81 per cent. The destruction has especially hit the private sector, with 82 per cent of the businesses — a key driver of Gaza’s economy — having been damaged or destroyed.
“The report highlights the staggering scale of economic devastation and unprecedented decline in economic activity, far surpassing the impact of all previous military confrontations in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021,” the comprehensive report titled Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory mentioned.
“Inflationary pressures combined with soaring unemployment and collapsing incomes, have severely impoverished Palestinian households,” it added.
It is important to note that prior to ongoing Israeli strikes, 80 per cent of Gazans depended on international assistance and by the end of the year, multidimensional poverty had affected the entire population.
In terms of losses in the service sector and the gig economy, two-thirds of pre-war jobs—approximately 201,000 positions— were lost by January 2024. This has further deteriorated the already critical economic and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
So far, at least 41,118 people have been killed and 95,125 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza and about 25 per cent of the wounded people or at least 22,500 Palestinians – have reported life-changing injuries, according to the World Health Organization.
Israel’s war on Gaza has overflowed into the West Bank as well. “The combined impact of the military operation in Gaza and its repercussions in the West Bank delivered an unparalleled shock that overwhelmed the Palestinian economy across the occupied Territory, including East Jerusalem,” it noted.
“The West Bank and East Jerusalem were not spared, as violence spread and the occupying Power tightened long-standing restrictions on movement and access. The quarterly gross domestic product shrank by 19 per cent and unemployment reached 32 per cent,” the report added.
Apart from the job and the business, the agrarian population in Gaza has also faced the brunt of Israel’s relentless aggression.
The report noted that by early 2024, between 80 to 96 per cent of Gaza’s agricultural assets — including irrigation systems, livestock farms, orchards, machinery and storage facilities — had been decimated, crippling the region’s food production capacity and worsening already high levels of food insecurity.
As a solution to the crisis, the UN body called for immediate and substantial intervention by the international community to halt the economic freefall, address the humanitarian crisis and lay the groundwork for lasting peace and development.