The United Nations has issued a stark warning that Gaza could become uninhabitable in the next five years if current economic trends continue.
A report released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development says years of economic blockades by the Israeli government and three military operations in the last six years have sparked a process of "de-development" – where development is not just hindered, but reversed.
The conflict last year forced 500,000 residents to flee and destroyed more than 20,000 Palestinian homes, 148 schools and 15 hospitals. The region's power and water supplies remain badly damaged.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Gaza's economy saw negative economic growth of minus 0.4 per cent and unemployment reached a record 44 per cent last year, due "almost entirely" to a range of "discriminatory" economic policies imposed on it. These include the Israeli government withholding nearly $700m worth of Palestinian clearance revenue, earned from taxes on imports into Gaza.
The war "has effectively eliminated what was left of the middle class, sending almost all of the population into destitution and dependence on international humanitarian aid," the UN reports.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights says that while donor aid has been "very useful" to the Palestinian population, it needed to be paired with "real political policies" to have any lasting effect.
"The humanitarian catastrophe is man-made," deputy director Hamdi Shaqqura told Al Jazeera. "The answer is only through man-made policies."
On the one-year anniversary of the most recent conflict, The Week's Nigel Wilson reported that hope is yet to emerge from the rubble. "The nine-year economic blockade has been made worse by weak governance from within," he wrote.
"An intra-Palestinian dispute between the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah, and Gaza's Hamas government, has all but stalled reconstruction and development in the coastal enclave since the war last summer."
-
Why is Trump backtracking on the Hyundai immigration raid?Today’s Big Question Backlash threatens investment in US manufacturing
-
The 9 restaurants to eat at this very momentThe Week Recommends They’re award-winning. Isn’t that reason enough?
-
Trump proposes ending quarterly earnings reportsSpeed Read The SEC would have to approve any changes
-
Has Israel’s Qatar strike scuppered a ceasefire?Today’s Big Question Netanyahu ‘gambles’ on ‘overwhelming strength’ rather than diplomacy in attack on Hamas negotiation team in Doha
-
Israel targets Hamas leaders in Qatar airstrikeSpeed Read Hamas said five low-level leaders were killed in the attack
-
What are the Abraham Accords and why are they under threat?The Explainer The 2020 agreements would be 'undermined' if Israel annexes West Bank, UAE warns
-
What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
-
UN votes to end Lebanon peacekeeping missionSpeed Read The Trump administration considers the UN's Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be a 'waste of money'
-
How Israel's 'Legitimisation Cell' is justifying journalist killings in GazaThe Explainer Evidence suggests a secret intelligence unit is portraying Palestinian journalists as Hamas operatives
-
Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital kills 20Speed Read The dead include five journalists who worked for The Associated Press, Reuters and Al Jazeera
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
