According to a report released Tuesday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the poverty rate in the Palestinian territories will nearly quadruple this year to 74.3% following months of fighting in Gaza.
“The immediate consequence of the war, not just in terms of physical infrastructure destruction, but also in terms of poverty, livelihoods, and loss of livelihoods, is enormous,” Achim Steiner, UNDP Director-General, told AFP.
The poverty rate was 38.8 percent by the end of 2023, but an additional 2.61 million Palestinians slipped into poverty this year, bringing the total to 4.1 million.
“It’s quite clear from this socio-economic assessment, that the level of destruction has set back the state of Palestine by years, if not decades, in terms of its development pathway,” he said.
According to the report, unemployment in the Palestinian territories could reach 49.9 percent this year, and GDP will be 35.1 percent lower than it would have been without the Gaza conflict.
He stated that even if humanitarian help is supplied annually, the Palestinian economy will not recover to pre-crisis levels for a decade or more.
Recovery will also necessitate assistance in rebuilding destroyed capital as well as the removal of “stifling economic conditions”.
According to the report, Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza resulted in 42 million tonnes of rubble, posing significant health concerns. Solar panel destruction is especially harmful since it releases lead and other heavy elements.
The Gaza conflict began with Hamas’ unprecedented offensive on Israel on October 7, last year, which killed 1,206 people, the majority of them were civilians, according to an AFP assessment of official Israeli data.
Israel’s air and military offensives in Gaza have killed 42,603 individuals, the bulk of them are civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN considers accurate.