After months of conflict in Gaza, the UN Development Programme said Tuesday that the poverty rate in the Palestinian territory will nearly quadruple this year to 74.3%.

The UNDP chief, Achim Steiner, told AFP, “the immediate consequence of the war, not just in terms of physical infrastructure destruction, but in terms of poverty, livelihoods, and loss of livelihoods, is enormous.”

The number of Palestinians living in poverty increased by 2.61 million this year, bringing the total to 4.1 million. At the end of 2023, the poverty rate was 38.8%.

“This socioeconomic assessment makes it abundantly evident that the extent of the destruction has regressed the state of Palestine by years, if not decades, in terms of its development trajectory,” Steiner said.

According to the report, GDP will be 35.1 percent lower than it would be in the absence of the conflict in Gaza, and unemployment in the Palestinian territories could reach 49.9 percent this year.

According to him, it will take ten years or longer for the Palestinian economy to recover to its pre-crisis levels, even with annual humanitarian assistance deliveries.

Support to repair damaged capital and the removal of “stifling economic conditions” will also be necessary for recovery.

According to the report, 42 million tonnes of rubble were left in Gaza as a result of Israel’s air operation, posing serious health concerns. Because solar panels emit lead and other heavy metals, their dismantling is very risky.

According to an AFP count of official Israeli data, Hamas’s historic October 7 onslaught on Israel last year, which claimed 1,206 lives, primarily civilians, was the catalyst for the conflict in Gaza.

According to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, Israel’s bombing and ground offensives in Gaza have killed 42,603 individuals, the bulk of whom were civilians. The UN deems these estimates to be credible.