Israel’s war against Hamas could set back the Palestinian economy in Gaza and the West Bank by decades, according to a new analysis by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
A report released this Thursday (9) by the organization paints a very negative picture of economic conditions in the Palestinian enclave, where more than 10,700 people were killed in response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, according to the Ministry Palestinian Health Center, controlled by Hamas, in Ramallah.
Since the start of the conflict, the number of Palestinians living in poverty has increased by 300,000, according to Abdallah Al Dardari, director of the UNDP Regional Office for the Arab States.
Nearly 1.5 million people in Gaza have been displaced since fighting began last month, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency, while Israel’s fuel blockade, combined with severe restrictions on the distribution of food, water and medicines, triggered a humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Key economic measures, including employment rates and GDP, fell in Gaza and the West Bank, according to UNDP analysis. The last month of conflict has eliminated 61% of employment in Gaza and 24% of employment in the West Bank, the report warns.
Palestinian GDP is predicted to have fallen by 4.2% after a month of war compared to pre-war estimates, a loss of about $857 million. If the war lasts a second month, that number would rise to $1.7 billion, a loss of about 8.4% of GDP, he adds.
“This is huge,” Al Dardari said in an interview. “I have been following conflicts and writing about them for 30 years. I have never seen such a dramatic shock in such a short time,” he told CNN .
VIDEO – Israel says it destroyed 130 Hamas tunnels in Gaza
Source: CNN Brasil
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