A UNCTAD report highlights the serious economic crisis, marked by the collapse of the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, widespread poverty and the vertiginous increase in unemployment.

The economic slowdown caused by the conflict is compounded by the drop in international aid and Israel’s deductions and withholding of income (more than $1.4 billion since 2019) which are increasing tension, the international organization stressed.

In addition to the destruction in the West Bank caused by the Israeli invasion, violence, demolition of Palestinian assets, confiscations and expansion of settlements increased and more than 300,000 jobs were lost. As a result, the unemployment rate rose from 12.9 percent to 32 percent.

These job losses generated an estimated daily drop of 25.5 million in labor income, weakening the economic resilience of Palestinian households and worsening social difficulties.

By early 2024, the report adds, between 80 and 96 percent of Gaza’s agricultural assets -such as irrigation systems, livestock farms, orchards, machinery and storage facilities- were devastated.

As a result, he continued, food production in the region was halted and already high levels of food insecurity were aggravated, with 82 percent of private sector businesses -key to the Gazan economy- being damaged or destroyed.

ef/ro/tdd