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TWN
Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Nov25/06) UNCTAD:
Gaza recovery bill tops $70 billion amid historic economic collapse Geneva, 26 Nov (D. Ravi Kanth) -- UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 25 November suggested that more than $70 billion will be required for the reconstruction and recovery of Gaza as a result of "the prolonged military operation and longstanding restrictions" in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The UNCTAD report, however, did not address the alleged genocide and man-made famine caused by Israel, the occupying power. The military conflict has resulted in an estimated 200,000 lives lost, according to some sources, while some UN agencies have put the figure at over 70,000, a significant portion of whom were women and children. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory had on 15 September pronounced that "Israeli security forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza - including extermination, torture, rape and sexual violence, forcible transfer, persecution, and starvation as a method of warfare." The Commission found "reasonable grounds" to conclude that Israel is committing genocide - fulfilling four key criteria under the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention: killing members of the group (national, ethnical, racial or religious); causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to destroy the group; and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. The Commission documented how Israel has "destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza," including attacks on maternity wards, denial of prenatal care, and obstruction of medical evacuations for pregnant women. KEY FINDINGS Against this backdrop, the UNCTAD report, titled "Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory", detailed the scale of destruction in economic terms, highlighting the unprecedented collapse across the Palestinian economy during two years of "military operations and restrictions." Launching the report at a media briefing on 25 November, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno said that decades of movement restrictions combined with the latest military operations had "wiped out decades of progress" and left both Gaza and the West Bank facing long-term devastation. "What we see today is extremely worrying," he said. "Gaza is going through the fastest and most damaging economic collapse ever recorded." Focusing on the economic damage, the UNCTAD report attributes the collapse to "longstanding economic and institutional fragility, with severe social and environmental consequences." According to the report, "extensive damage to infrastructure, productive assets and public services has reversed decades of socioeconomic progress in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." The report categorized the situation as "among the ten worst [economic crises] globally since 1960; while the situation in Gaza stands apart - being the most severe economic crisis on record." UNCTAD's data shows that in 2024, Gaza's GDP fell by 83 per cent compared to the previous year. GDP per capita fell to just $161 a year - less than 50 cents per day - among the lowest anywhere in the world, and Gaza's economy now stands at just 13 per cent of its 2022 size. Speaking at the media briefing, senior economist Mutasim Elagraa, the Coordinator of UNCTAD's programme of assistance to the Palestinian people, said the collapse was so severe that it had erased seven decades of human development in the enclave. "Gaza's economy has lost 87 per cent of its value since 2022," he said. "GDP per capita has reverted to levels seen 22 years ago. This is the worst economic crisis on record, anywhere in recent decades." Mr. Elagraa said that national unemployment has hit 50 per cent, and unemployment in Gaza is now at over 80 per cent. "Multidimensional poverty now engulfs all Gazans," he added. According to the report, "plummeting revenues and the withholding of fiscal transfers by the Israeli Government have severely constrained the Palestinian Government's ability to maintain essential public services and invest in recovery." The report said that this unprecedented destruction "comes at a critical time when massive spending is needed to rebuild shattered infrastructure and address worsening environmental and socioeconomic crises." The escalation of economic and human tragedy has "pushed the Occupied Palestinian economy from a prolonged state of decline into a phase of near-total collapse, with deep repercussions across all sectors - economic, social, humanitarian and the environment," the report noted. "In Gaza," the report said, "the entire population plunged into multidimensional poverty", while "the West Bank is undergoing its most severe economic downturn on record, driven by heightened insecurity, movement and access restrictions and the loss of productive opportunities in all sectors of the economy" as well as the continued occupation of land by Israeli settlers. Unsurprisingly, it said that "by the end of 2024, Palestinian GDP fell back to its 2010 level while GDP per capita returned to that of 2003, erasing 22 years of development progress in less than two years." GAZA & WEST BANK Elaborating on Gaza's economic collapse, the report noted that "for nearly two decades, 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have faced severe constraints on trade, movement and access to resources within a 365 sq km area - one of the most densely populated in the world." Further, "limited entry of goods, combined with restrictions on productive inputs, equipment, and technology, and recurrent military operations, have dismantled Gaza's productive base and created near total dependence on external assistance." With the continued destruction of human and cultural infrastructure, including higher learning institutions, the report said that "extensive destruction of infrastructure, loss of productive capacity and population displacement have inflicted lasting damage on human capital. Disruptions to education and basic services will have long-term effects on livelihoods and the very foundation of societal resilience." The report highlighted that "extensive damage to housing, utilities and essential infrastructure has disrupted access to food, water, health care and public services, creating an acute humanitarian and economic emergency." "The scale of damage poses major challenges for economic recovery and the re-establishment of basic living conditions without extensive international support," it argued. More disturbingly, the report said that "even with substantial aid, recovery to pre-October 2023 GDP levels could take decades." Therefore, it said "to enable any meaningful recovery - including access to healthcare, education, clean water, and critical infrastructure - the international community must secure the durability of the ceasefire achieved in October 2025. At the same time, delivering humanitarian aid is urgent and cannot wait." The report said the West Bank is also being subjected to economic pressure, where "the expansion of settlements and movement restrictions continue to fragment the West Bank, disrupt the economy, trade and investment, and reduce access to land, resources and markets." According to the report, "these restrictions affect over 3.3 million people, raising transport costs, lengthening travel times and disrupting access to markets, employment, education and health services." Following the horrific incidents of 7 October 2023, "movement constraints have intensified, further reducing commerce and production. GDP contracted by 17 per cent and GDP per capita by 18.8 per cent, returning to levels last recorded in 2014 and 2008, respectively," it said. The West Bank is experiencing its worst contraction ever recorded, with GDP falling by 17 per cent in 2024 and per-capita income dropping by nearly 19 per cent. UNCTAD said that the combination of rising insecurity, intensified movement and access restrictions, expanding settlements, and the loss of access to 60 per cent of West Bank land has "suppressed the economy for decades" and severely limits future recovery. At the media briefing, Mr. Moreno said that the fiscal situation facing the Palestinian government is now "the worst in its history", driven by collapsing revenues and withheld fiscal transfers, which account for more than two-thirds of Palestinian tax income. According to an UNCTAD press release, "the fiscal situation has deteriorated sharply after October 2023, making 2024 one of the most challenging years for the Palestinian Government." UNCTAD said "revenue shortfalls, the withholding of fiscal transfers, a contracting economy and declining external support, have deepened the crisis. Fiscal pressures persisted through 2025, straining the Government's ability to maintain essential services and macroeconomic stability." Worse still, UNCTAD said "between January 2019 and April 2025, cumulative fiscal deductions and withheld revenues amounted to an estimated $1.76 billion - equivalent to 12.8 per cent of GDP in 2024 and 44 per cent of total net revenues". UNCTAD called for "urgent and sustained international financial support to stabilize public finances, safeguard institutional capacity and enable recovery and reconstruction efforts." The estimated cost of reconstruction and recovery in Gaza exceeds $70 billion, underscoring the magnitude of investment required to rebuild infrastructure and restore livelihoods. The report called for "immediate and substantial intervention by the international community to halt the economic free-fall, address the humanitarian crisis, and lay the groundwork for lasting peace and development." The report further called for a comprehensive recovery plan for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with coordinated international assistance, restoration of fiscal transfers, and measures to ease constraints on trade, movement and investment. +
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