UN warns Gaza’s economy faces collapse and long-term devastation.

Rebuilding the territory could cost over USD 70 billion and take decades.

The UN calls for urgent international aid, fiscal support, and eased trade restrictions.

The United Nations has issued a stark warning over the devastation in Gaza, saying 'Israel’s' war has ravaged the Palestinian territory’s economy and threatens its very survival.

 

In a report released Tuesday, the UN Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD) called for “immediate and substantial” international intervention to prevent further collapse.

 

According to the report, rebuilding Gaza will require more than USD 70 billion and could take several decades. UNCTAD highlighted that years of war and restrictions have triggered an “unprecedented collapse across the Palestinian economy.”

 

“The military operations have significantly undermined every pillar of survival,” including food, shelter, and healthcare, “and plunged Gaza into a human-made abyss,” the report stated. “The sustained, systematic destruction casts significant doubt on the ability of Gaza to reconstitute itself as a liveable space and society.”

 

The report warned that the widespread destruction has unleashed cascading crises, economic, humanitarian, environmental, and social, driving Gaza “from de-development to utter ruin.” Even under an optimistic scenario of double-digit growth supported by substantial foreign aid, Gaza is not expected to regain pre-October 2023 living standards for decades.

 

UNCTAD called for a “comprehensive recovery plan,” emphasizing the need for coordinated international assistance, restoration of fiscal transfers, and measures to ease restrictions on trade, movement, and investment. With Gaza’s population facing “extreme, multidimensional impoverishment,” the agency also recommended introducing a universal emergency basic income, providing every resident with a renewable, unconditional monthly cash transfer.

 

The report highlighted that Gaza’s economy contracted by 87 percent during 2023-2024, leaving its gross domestic product per capita at just USD 161, among the lowest in the world.

 

While conditions in the West Bank were less severe, the report noted that “violence, accelerated settlement expansion and restrictions on worker mobility have decimated the economy,” resulting in the worst economic decline since UNCTAD began maintaining records in 1972.