Gaza’s recovery needs reach $71.5bn amid ‘most severe economic crisis’: UN
UN trade body report says consequences of Israeli occupation have 'skyrocketed' with 90% unemployed in Gaza.
Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction needs have reached an estimated $71.5bn and are likely to increase, according to the latest United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.
Gaza’s economy has experienced the world’s “most severe crisis on record”, said the report presented at UNCTAD’s 73rd session on Thursday.
It said that 59 years of Israeli occupation have “imposed structural constraints that have systemically stunted the Palestinian economy”, undermining productivity, deepening poverty and forcing dependence on aid.
Housing accounts for the largest share of Gaza’s damage and reconstruction needs, while more than half of hospitals and clinics remain non-functional and less than 1.5 percent of cropland remains accessible and undamaged.