GAZA: The Israel’s attack in Gaza has adverse impact on its immediate neighbors including Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan and its economic cost could reach to $10 billion this year, said according a UN study on Wednesday.
The study said that the ongoing conflict can push more than 230,000 people into poverty. According to the Gaza health ministry at least 18,608, Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardment since October 7, mostly women and children.
Because of the Israel’s relentless attacks, the three Arab nations face a struggle with slow growth, steep unemployment and fiscal pressures.
A study by the United Nations Development Programme said the cost of the war for the three states in terms of loss of GDP might be around $10.3 billion or 2.3 percent, and could increase to double if it continues for another six months.
Abdallah Al Dardari, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP’s Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States [RBAS] termed it a massive impact. He added that the crisis is like a ticking bomb in an already fragile regional region.
Destruction in Gaza is Unprecedented
Dardari said the scale of destruction in Gaza is unprecedented since World War II. The mass displacement of almost 80 percent of Gaza’s population has also eclipsed the decade long Syrian conflict, which triggered the world’s biggest refugee crisis.
Dardari, a former minister for economic affairs in the Syrian government said it took Syria five years of war to reach the same level of destruction that Gaza reached in one month.
The Israeli raids have almost destroyed entire neighborhoods in northern Gaza. Israeli ground troops have been facing heavy resistance from Hamas fighters in the area.
According to the UN some 1.87 million Palestinians, over 80 percent of Gaza’s population, have left their homes.
