The UN development agency reported that in its seventh month, the Israeli war on Gaza has pushed an additional 1.74 million people into poverty, with the poverty rate now at 58 percent.
According to the UNDP’s latest report on Gaza released on Wednesday, the gross domestic product (GDP) has plummeted by 26.9 percent, resulting in a loss of US$7.1 billion compared to a 2023 baseline without war.
UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner warned that the continuation of the war is causing immense and accumulating costs to Palestinians, both in the short and long term.
He stated, “Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Palestinians, now and in the medium and long term. Compared to our preliminary assessment, these new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does.”
Steiner emphasized the unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction, and the sharp rise in poverty, which are leading to a serious development crisis with long-lasting implications for future generations.
If the conflict persists for nine months, estimates suggest that the poverty rate will more than double to 60.7 percent, with over 1.86 million people pushed into poverty. The GDP is expected to decrease by 29 percent, resulting in total losses of US$7.6 billion.
The assessment also predicts a significant decline in the Human Development Index (HDI), indicating a setback in human development in the State of Palestine that may exceed two decades, reaching levels seen prior to 2004 when the HDI was first calculated for the region.
The report stated that poverty increased by 114 percent in the first six months of the attacks. The poverty rate in Palestine increased from 26.7 percent to 57.2 percent of the population, and the number of poor people reached 3.13 million people, with approximately 1.67 million more pushed into poverty, it added.
The UN reported revealed that seven months after the start of the attacks, the loss in Palestinian GDP would be $7 billion and the poverty rate would increase by 118.7 percent to 58.4 percent of the population.
If the war continues for up to 9 months, the poverty rate is expected to rise to 60.7 percent of the population, pushing a large part of the middle class below the poverty line and increasing the number of people living in poverty by 1.86 million.
