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According to the International Labour Organization, the conflict’s economic effects will be seen for “many years to come.”
According to the United Nations labor agency, Gaza has lost at least 61% of its jobs since the Israel-Hamas conflict began, and the economic consequences will be seen for “many years to come.”
In an evaluation of the conflict’s economic effects, the International Labor Organization stated on Monday that the expected employment losses in the Palestinian territories amount to 182,000 jobs.
ILO’s Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat stated, “Our preliminary assessment of the repercussions of the tragic current crisis on the Palestinian labor market has yielded extremely worrying results, which will only worsen if the conflict continues.”
“The ongoing hostilities represent not only a grave humanitarian crisis in terms of lives lost and basic human needs, but also a social and economic crisis that has severely damaged jobs and businesses and will have long-term effects.”
According to the ILO, the war’s knock-on consequences have caused the occupied West Bank to lose 208,000 jobs, or 24 percent of its total employment.
The UN agency estimates that the total loss of jobs in the two Palestinian territories results in daily economic losses of $16 million.
Humanitarian aid must be made available to Gazans “full, rapid, safe, and unhindered,” according to Jaradat.
“To provide immediate assistance to impacted workers and businesses, we are working tirelessly with government, worker and employer partners, other UN agencies, and humanitarian actors,” the spokesperson stated.
“To the fullest extent of our mandate, we will also support them in the longer term in gathering essential labor market data, regaining jobs and businesses, and combining social protection initiatives.”
Even prior to the present fighting, Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2005, was severely impoverished economically.
In the second quarter of 2023, the area had one of the highest rates of unemployment in the world, at 46.4 percent.
As per the UN, almost 80 percent of people are living below the poverty line.
Since Israel tightened its blockade and started shelling the enclave in response to Hamas’s October 7 strikes on Israeli communities, which authorities believe killed at least 1,405 people, mostly civilians, the shortages of food, water, and medical supplies have gotten worse.
Since then, officials in the Hamas-run enclave claim that Israel’s shelling has killed at least 10,022 Palestinians.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
