A year of conflict between Israel and Hamas has resulted in a “devastating impact on the economy” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, the IMF said Thursday, including a nearly 90 per cent drop in Gaza’s GDP.
“Preliminary official estimates indicate an 86 per cent 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 per cent decline in GDP in the first half of 2024,” Kozack told reporters at a regular briefing.
Israel has been at war in Gaza since Hamas’s 7 October resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people in the country, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
AFP
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