A year of Israel’s attacks on Gaza has had a “devastating impact on the economy” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported on Thursday.
That includes a nearly 90% decline in Gaza’s gross domestic product (GDP), severely affecting livelihoods in the region.
“Preliminary official estimates indicate an 86% decline in GDP in the first half of 2024” in Gaza, said International Monetary Fund communications chief Julie Kozack.
She added that Gaza’s “civilian population faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid delivery.”
In the West Bank, “already grim prospects have further deteriorated, and preliminary official data indicate a 25% decline in GDP in the first half of 2024,” Kozack told reporters at a regular briefing.
Israel has been constantly bombing Gaza since Oct. 7 after a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 41,780 people in the enclave, the majority of them women and children, according to figures provided by local health officials. The U.N. confirms the statistics as reliable.
Israeli economy also hit
Israel’s economy has also been battered by the war, with three main ratings agencies downgrading its debt.
After shrinking by 21% in the fourth quarter of 2023, Israeli GDP rebounded by 14% in the first three months of this year, official data showed.
But growth turned sluggish in the second quarter at 0.7%.
Kozack also noted that “in Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country’s already fragile macroeconomic and social situation.”
“We’re closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty,” she added.
Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, began exchanging cross-border fire from Lebanon with Israel after Israel began its genocidal response to the Hamas attack.
But Israel has escalated the conflict after it announced this week that its troops had started “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon, after days of heavy bombardment of areas across the country where the resistance group holds sway. The bombing has killed more than 1,000 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
In retaliation for the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, Iran launched around 200 rockets in a direct missile attack on Israel on Tuesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities, in comments that sent oil prices spiking just a month before the U.S. presidential election.
