UN says 'development emergency' looming due to Gaza war, jeopardizing future of all Palestinians

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN Development Program (UNDP) on Tuesday said according to the new assessments a less noticed "development emergency" is looming due to the war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 42,000 people since last October and rendered the enclave almost uninhabitable.

This emergency is "jeopardizing the future for all Palestinians, not only in Gaza," Chitose Noguchi, the UNDP deputy special representative, told a UN press briefing in Geneva.

The new assessment, which was launched with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), showed that economic losses are staggering, Noguchi said.

She stressed that by the end of 2024, Palestine's GDP would drop from the pre-war estimate of 20.2 billion to 13.1 billion, the equivalent of over a 35% reduction.

She said unemployment is "skyrocketing" as one in two people is jobless.

"In Gaza, unemployment is reaching 80%," Noguchi said, adding that poverty is also "exponentially" rising as three in four people live in poverty.

"In the State of Palestine poverty is projected to rise to 74.3% in 2024, up from 38.8% at the end of 2023, affecting 4.1 million people, including 2.61 million people who are newly impoverished," she added.

Describing the situation as an "unprecedented setback in development," she warned that it is indicating "a loss of almost 24 years of development gains."

The official said humanitarian aid alone "cannot put" the Palestinian economy on a restorative track to restore pre-war levels and align with Palestinian development goals even if it flowed at the rate of $280 million every year for 10 years.