We are talking about 97% of the GDP of the occupied Palestinian territories. Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, carried out in retaliation for the attack launched by Hamas in the south of the country on October 7, resulted in damage to “critical infrastructure” estimated at $18.5 billion, according to a report published this Tuesday. It takes into account the destruction carried out between the start of the conflict and the end of January.
This amount, resulting from a study carried out jointly by the World Bank (WB), the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), is the first estimate of the effects of the bombings and ground fighting carried out for six months and therefore corresponds to the equivalent of 97% of the GDP of all occupied Palestinian territories.
Malnutrition, food insecurity and famine
The destruction of housing represents a large part of these “critical infrastructures” destroyed (72%), ahead of health, education and “amenities (water, electricity)” (19%), the rest concerning commercial and industrial equipment. .
Now more than a million people are homeless, out of the 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip before the start of the conflict, twice as many as the previous estimate, published in mid-December. Worse still, more than half of the population is close to starvation, while the entire population is malnourished or food insecure.
All Gazan children are out of school
As for health equipment, 84% of them have been destroyed or damaged, compared to 60% at the end of 2023, and those still operating have almost no water or electricity to treat their patients or the injured.
The running water and sanitation system is only functioning at 5% of its capacity at the beginning of October and the Gazan education system is considered to have completely collapsed, with all of Gaza’s children out of school.
While half of the road network was destroyed in mid-December, this is now the case for 92% of the primary road network, while the telecommunications network is considered to be “seriously compromised”.
“Protect innocent civilians”
The report also identifies the most essential actions to begin reconstruction, starting with an increase in humanitarian aid and food production, the provision of large-scale shelter and the resumption of essential services.
The war was triggered by the unprecedented Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, which left at least 1,160 dead, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a campaign of intense aerial bombardments on Gaza, followed by a ground offensive, which left at least 32,916 people dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel this Tuesday to do more to “protect innocent civilians”, after the death on Monday of seven workers from the American NGO World Central Kitchen, killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.