With economic activity at a standstill, about 61 per cent of jobs in Gaza have been lost as Israel continues to bombard the Palestinian enclave, the International Labour Organisation has said.
More than 182,000 jobs have been lost in the besieged strip alone and the spillover effect of the conflict in the occupied West Bank has cut employment levels by 24 per cent, equivalent of 208,000 jobs, since the war broke out on October 7, the ILO said in its latest report on Monday.
“The total estimated 390,000 job losses in the two areas … translate into daily labour income losses of $16 million,” the ILO said. “These figures are projected to increase if military operations in Gaza intensify and the humanitarian crisis in the enclave continues to unfold.”
Unemployment rate in Gaza, at about 46.6 per cent in the second quarter of this year, was among the highest in the world even before the war broke out.
With the seizure of Gaza’s economic activity, the unemployment rate has surged close to 100 per cent, the Ramallah-based Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (Pepri) said in a report this week.
Israel continues to bombard the enclave of 2.4 million people, destroying infrastructure and killing residents.
More than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza so far, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
The World Bank as well as the International Monetary Fund have voiced concern about the war, its rising human toll and the effect it will have on Middle Eastern economies.
The continued bombardment of Gaza has turned into a humanitarian crisis and the economic fallout of the siege and devastation is the worst the territory has experienced.
The ILO said the escalating crisis in Gaza has severe implications on the labour market, employment prospects and livelihoods not only in the enclave but across the entire occupied Palestinian territories.
“Our initial assessment of the repercussions of the tragic current crisis on the Palestinian labour market have yielded extremely worrying results, which will only worsen if the conflict continues,” said ILO regional director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat.
“The ongoing hostilities not only represent an enormous humanitarian crisis in terms of loss of lives and basic human needs, [but] they also represent a social and economic crisis which has caused vast damage to jobs and businesses, with reverberations that will be felt for many years to come.”
The devastation wrought by the war and the continued destruction of infrastructure in the narrow strip means it will take years for Gaza and the broader Palestinian economy to recover, the UN Conference on Trade and Development said in its October 25 report on the Palestinian economy.
The outlook was grim even before the war broke out and it continued to operate “below potential in 2022 as persistent challenges intensified”.
Unemployment remained high last year – at 24 per cent, across the occupied Palestinian territories, 13 per cent in the West Bank and 45 per cent in Gaza – with women and youths hit the hardest, according to the UN agency.
In Gaza, real gross domestic product per capita last year was 11.7 per cent below the 2019 level and close to its lowest level since 1994, Unctad data showed.
Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007 that has severely hampered the movement of people and goods and hit the enclave's economy hard.
The Gaza Strip’s contribution to Palestine’s economy began to decline after 2006, from about 35 per cent to 25 per cent in 2013. After 2014, it reached about 19 per cent, declining further to 17 per cent in 2022, according to Pepri data.
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Palestinians cry as they walk away after an area hit by Israeli missiles in Rafah, the Gaza Strip. AP -
Palestinians with foreign passports wait for permission to leave Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Reuters -
A Palestinian boy pushes a man on a wheelchair past debris in Rafah. AFP -
A paramedic holds an injured bird as he searches through buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Getty Images -
Israeli soldiers take part in ground operations at a location given as Gaza. Reuters -
A man listens for any potential sounds of life following an Israeli air strike on the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza. AFP -
People flee after Israeli air strikes on the Maghazi refugee camp. AFP -
An Israeli soldier arranges artillery shells near the border with the Gaza Strip. AFP -
Relatives and friends of those kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack hold photos of their loved ones during a protest calling for their return outside Israel's parliament. AP -
Israeli flares illuminate the sky over west Gaza in the northern Gaza Strip. EPA -
Smoke rises from northern Gaza after Israeli pounded the besieged enclave. AFP -
Ambulances queue at the Rafah border as they wait to cross into Gaza to transport the injured back to Egypt for treatment. Getty Images -
Women cry as one of them holds an injured toddler outside Shuhada Al Aqsa hospital after an Israeli bombardment of Deir Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. AFP -
Displaced Palestinian children sit in a makeshift shelter at Al Shifa hospital, amid the Israel-Gaza war. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers patrol outside a house destroyed during fighting with Hamas militants, in the kibbutz of Kfar Aza. Bloomberg -
Palestinians from Bureij refugee camp use Salah Al Din street as they flee the southern Gaza Strip. AP -
Palestinian children clean up outside their home after Israel struck Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. AP -
Khan Younis residents search through buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids. Getty Images -
People take part in a candlelight vigil in Dizengoff Square, in Tel Aviv. Getty Images -
Demonstrators rally in support of Palestinians in Denver, Colorado. AFP -
Galya David, the mother of hostage Evyatar David, takes part in the 'Bring them home' event organised by the Greek Israeli Community in Athens. EPA -
Lebanese parademics show the blood-stained high-vis jackets of four of their colleagues wounded after their ambulances were hit in a strike on the Lebanese town of Tayr Harfa. AFP -
Flares are dropped by Israeli forces above Gaza, as seen from Sderot, near the border with the Palestinian enclave. AFP -
Israeli forces at a position along the the border with Gaza. AFP -
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors at Magazi refugee camp in Gaza after an Israeli air strike. Reuters -
Leaflets are dropped by the Israeli army over Gaza city asking people to evacuate towards the south of the Palestinian enclave. AFP -
An injured toddler awaits treatment at the emergency ward of Al-Shifa Hospital following an Israeli strike, in Gaza city. AFP -
A Palestinian man wails amid a search for casualties after an Israeli strike on houses, at Magazi refugee camp, Gaza. Reuters -
Anadolu news agency cameraman Mohammed El Aloul pictured after several of his children and siblings were killed in Israeli strikes. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers walk past debris and damaged buildings at a location given as Gaza by Israel's military. Reuters -
Protesters rally outside the White House in support of Palestinians in Gaza, Washington. Reuters -
A man mourns after losing relatives following an Israeli air strike in Gaza city. AP -
An art installation of prams with the faces of kidnapped children on display in Tel Aviv. Getty Images -
An Israeli woman calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. AP -
A Palestinian man stands on a collapsed building following a strike by the Israeli military on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli strikes on a residential building in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023. AFP -
A Palestinian woman sits in the rubble as rescuers look for her relatives following the Israeli bombardment of Khan Younis. AFP -
Smoke rises from Gaza as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas continues. Reuters -
Mourners at the funeral of Druze Israeli Lt Col Salman Habaka in the village of Yanuh Jat, northern Israel. AP -
A Palestinian boy pulled from the rubble of a building following an Israeli air attack on Bureij refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip. AP -
A survivor calls from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis following Israeli air attacks. EPA -
People wait on the Egyptian side of the border after passing the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. EPA -
Pro-Palestinian supporters during a demonstration near a US military transport vessel at the Port of Oakland in California. AP
“After 2007, Israel declared Gaza to be ‘enemy territory’. The siege and successive wars inflicted significant [direct and indirect] economic losses on the Gaza Strip, estimated by the UN to amount to about $16.5 billion," the report said.
The ILO said entire neighbourhoods in Gaza have been destroyed, infrastructure has been severely damaged, businesses have closed, large-scale internal displacement has occurred and the lack of water, food and fuel are crippling economic activity.
“We are working tirelessly with government, worker and employer partners, other UN agencies and humanitarian actors to provide immediate assistance to impacted workers and businesses,” Ms Jaradat of ILO said.
“We will also support them in the longer term … to the utmost extent of our mandate,” she added.
