The conflict between Israel and Hamas could set back the economy in Gaza and the West Bank by decades, according to an analysis by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
according to station cnnMr. Abdullah Al Dardari, Director of the UNDP Regional Office for Arab States, said that since the beginning of the conflict, the number of Palestinians living in poverty has increased by 300,000 people and is expected to increase by another 500,000. The struggle continues for the second month.
According to the World Bank (WB), poverty in Gaza was severe even before Israel’s retaliation campaign began, with 61% of the population living below the poverty line in 2020.
Nearly 1.5 million people have had to flee their homes in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas conflict began last month. Meanwhile, Israel’s blockade of fuel, food, water and medical supplies has created a humanitarian crisis. The UNDP report warns that the conflict has eliminated 61% of jobs in Gaza and 24% in the West Bank.
It is estimated that after one month of conflict, Palestine’s GDP will decline by 4.2% compared to pre-conflict estimates, with a loss of approximately US$857 million. If the conflict drags on for another month, this number will increase to USD 1.7 billion, causing a loss of about 8.4% of GDP.
The impact cannot be avoided, with thousands of workers stopping work due to the conflict, with the Israeli economy losing an estimated USD 600 million per week, equivalent to about 6% of GDP – Bank According to a report published by on November 9. Israeli things.
People taking shelter in Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital on 9 November. Photo: Reuters
There is a possibility of increasing economic damage if the ceasefire remains distant. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire in Gaza on 9 November and said the army was “doing very well”.
Although he stressed that he does not want to occupy or manage the Gaza Strip after the conflict ends, Mr Netanyahu would deploy Israeli forces to the area if necessary, with the aim of preventing an escalation of threats .
Mr Netanyahu said a civilian government was necessary in Gaza, but Israel wanted to ensure a similar attack on October 7 did not happen again.
Referring to plans for the future of Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister said that the territory should be demilitarized, neutralized and rebuilt. Earlier, Mr Netanyahu’s statement that Israel would be in charge of the security of the Gaza Strip indefinitely had drawn a US response.
President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority – which rules the West Bank – should return to power in Gaza after the conflict ends, according to US officials. Hamas took control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007.
According to the news agency reutersMr Abbas and top Palestinian officials stressed that there must be a political solution to the Palestinian Authority’s return to Gaza as well as an end to Israel’s occupation of territories won in the war. War in 1967.
Regarding developments in the conflict, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that infantry killed several Hamas members, including members of the elite Nukhba force that took part in the attack on 7 October.
According to the IDF, they killed Ahmed Musa, commander of the Nukhba Company, and Amr Alhandi, commander of the Nukhba Platoon stationed in Jabaliya. Connected reuters Citing the Gaza side, Israel carried out airstrikes on at least three hospitals on 10 November, including Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, further threatening the medical system.
Meanwhile, Israel accuses Hamas of hiding command centers and tunnels beneath Al Shifa, a charge the armed forces deny.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said that 106 trucks carrying mainly food, medicine, medical supplies, bottled water and hygiene products arrived in Gaza on 8 November. The aid distribution campaign began on October 21 and so far 756 trucks have delivered essential goods, but this number meets only a small portion of people’s needs. The fuel has not yet been brought into Gaza.
