The poverty rate across the Palestinian territories will almost double this year to 74.3 per cent after months of fighting in Gaza, according to a report by the UN Development Programme released Tuesday.

“The immediate consequence of the war, not just in physical infrastructure destruction, but also in terms of poverty, livelihoods and loss of livelihoods, is enormous,” Achim Steiner, head of the UNDP, told AFP.

The poverty rate had been 38.8 percent at the end of 2023 but another 2.61 million Palestinians fell 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,” Steiner said.

The study estimates that this year unemployment in the Palestinian territories could rise to 49.9 percent and that GDP will be 35.1 percent lower than without the war in Gaza.

He said that even if humanitarian aid is delivered each year, the Palestinian economy will not return to its pre-crisis levels for a decade or more.

Recovery will also require support to rebuild destroyed capital and the lifting of “stifling economic conditions”.

The study says Israel’s bombing campaign created 42 million tonnes of rubble in Gaza, creating major health risks. The destruction of solar panels is particularly dangerous given the lead and other heavy metals they release.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 last year which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel’s bombing and ground offensives in Gaza have killed 42,603 people, a majority of civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable.

AFP