According to a new study, Gazans, especially the Palestinian population, are penned into poverty primarily as a result of the recent and constantly ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. It, in one way or another, costs human lives and, in immeasurable terms, impacts the economy of any nation. The standard of living used in Gaza was Standard of Living based on 1948 data. The health and education sectors remain the most telling of the losses supported by the brakes and the other industries vital to the regional infrastructure.

This report, released on Tuesday and prepared by the UNDP, enumerates the grim toll of war on scores of sectors in the country and the world. Gaza and comparable sections of the West Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank are now 35% poorer due to the counterattack by the Israeli Defence forces last year. This invasion followed aggression carried out by Hamas when the organization fired rockets into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, which led to the death of about 1200 persons.

 Poverty And Unemployment Reaches Crisis Levels

The poverty line in the Gaza Strip has risen to dangerously high levels; the UNDP estimates that an astounding ninety-nine percent of Gazans are in poverty because of the conflict. There is high unemployment, which stands at around 80% currently, which only worsens the economic situation in this region. “The state of Palestine is facing record levels of reversals at the moment,” UNDP representative for the Arab region Chitose Noguchi said in a press briefing in Geneva. She stressed that the current situation in Gaza is that this area is 70 years behind in development, and the prospect of recovery seems hopeless.

Despite a constant flow of international assistance and endeavors aimed at the reconstruction of the area, the report states that Gaza’s economy might take up to ten years to recover from the consequences of the war. Losing essential structures such as schools and hospitals has worsened the economic challenge. Losses for rebuilding it are estimated to be $18.5 billion, implying almost 90% of the total gross domestic product of the Palestinian territories in 2022.

Severe Impact on Education and Healthcare

The war has greatly affected human capital in Gaza, particularly in the education and healthcare sectors. The report found that, by the end of September 2024, 625,000 students in Gaza could be out of school. About 92 percent of Rwandan school structures have been recently damaged severely, thus targeting the education sector.

Health care has not been spared and has similar calamitous effects. About nine hundred and ninety healthcare workers have been killed in the conflict; only one-third of primary healthcare clinics in Gaza are partially functional. These adversities have put millions of Palestinians in dire need of humanitarian aid, with 3.3 million of the Palestinian people, including 1.5 million children, waiting for help.

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