In Gaza, the military operation decimated the remaining infrastructure an precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian and environmental crisis, as the gross domestic product fell by 81 per cent in the last quarter of 2023 and unemployment soared to 79 per cent. Prior to October 2023, 80 per cent of Gazans depended on international assistance. By the end of the year, multidimensional poverty had affected the entire population. The West Bank and East Jerusalem were not spared, as violence spread and the occupying Power tightened long-standing restrictions on movement and access. The quarterly gross domestic product shrank by 19 per cent and unemployment reached 32 per cent.
The thirtieth anniversary of the Oslo Accords coincided with a severe confrontation. Intense Israeli operations in Gaza and restrictions in the West Bank inflicted the greatest damage to the Palestinian economy in recent history.
In Gaza, the military operation decimated the remaining infrastructure an precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian and environmental crisis, as the gross domestic product fell by 81 per cent in the last quarter of 2023 and unemployment soared to 79 per cent. Prior to October 2023, 80 per cent of Gazans depended on international assistance. By the end of the year, multidimensional poverty had affected the entire population.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem were not spared, as violence spread and the occupying Power tightened long-standing restrictions on movement and access. The quarterly gross domestic product shrank by 19 per cent and unemployment reached 32 per cent.
Inflationary pressures combined with increasing unemployment and declining incomes to erode household welfare. The decline in economic activity exceeded the impact of previous confrontations in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021, on course to surpass the impact of the aftermath of the second intifada.