War latest news. Hamas confirms, delegation to Cairo on Saturday to discuss ceasefire

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UN, economic development in Gaza has regressed by 20 years

Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip has set back Palestine’s overall socio-economic development by more than 20 years, according to a new joint report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (Escwa). The survey data also reveals that, since October 7, the poverty rate has risen to 58.4%, pushing nearly 1.74 million more people into poverty.

At the same time, gross domestic product fell by 26.9%, a loss of $7.1 billion compared to the pre-war 2023 baseline. “The massive loss of life, destruction and a sharp increase in poverty in such a short period of time will plunge the country into a serious development crisis that will jeopardize the future of generations to come,” said the UNDP administrator, Achim Steiner.

The report also finds that if the war were to continue for another nine months, poverty levels might more than double to 60.7 percent, and an additional 1.86 million people would fall into poverty. GDP would decline another 29%, which would equate to total losses of $7.6 billion. The report’s data is consistent with the assessment of the World Bank and the United Nations, which estimated direct damage to Gaza’s infrastructure at $18.5 billion in January 2024, equivalent to 97% of the total GDP of the State of Palestine in 2022.