As the genocidal war enters its second year, the occupation army continues its violent air and ground attacks targeting inhabited homes and Palestinian gatherings without warning in various areas of the Gaza Strip, causing significant human and material losses. The government media office in the Gaza Strip estimated the initial direct financial losses at about $33 billion.
Since the Al-Aqsa flood, Israel has systematically destroyed the economic sector, including facilities, factories, farms, and fish markets, causing very large financial and economic losses that cannot be easily compensated, not to mention the irreparable human losses.
Since the outbreak of its aggression against the Gaza Strip, the occupation army has dropped 83,000 tons of explosives, most of which fell on the heads of civilians, killing about 42,000 and wounding nearly 97,000 others, most of whom were children and women.
The following are the most prominent features of this loss:
- By last January, the war had caused the loss of about two-thirds of the jobs that existed before its outbreak, according to a report by the United Nations Trade and Development Organization (UNCTAD).
- The unemployment rate in the sector rose from 45% before the war to 80% after it, according to a report by the International Labor Organization last June.
- The poverty rate in the sector – according to the UNCTAD report – rose to 100%, and it was 50% before the war, according to figures from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory.
- 80%-96% of the sector’s agricultural assets, including irrigation systems, livestock farms, orchards, machinery and storage facilities, were damaged, paralyzing food production capacity and exacerbating already high levels of food insecurity, UNCTAD said.
- The UNCTAD report indicated that 82% of companies stopped in the Gaza Strip, which constitute a major driver of the economy, stressing that the war put the Strip’s economy in a state of ruin.
- The Israeli war machine turned entire residential areas and neighborhoods into a pile of rubble, targeting buildings, residential towers, government and private institutions, factories, laboratories, and stores, which greatly affected the sector’s economy.
- The bombing destroyed more than 75% of the housing sector, hospitals, schools, and churches.
- Of the 400,000 housing units in the Strip, the occupation army destroyed About 150,000 units completely and 200,000 units partially, and it caused 80,000 units to become uninhabitable places.
This narrow geographical area, which has an area of 365 square kilometers and is home to about 2.3 million people, was suffering before the outbreak of the war from a major housing crisis, with the deficit reaching 120,000 housing units until the beginning of 2023.
According to the government media office, the army destroyed 3 churches, 611 mosques completely and 214 partially, 206 archaeological and heritage sites, and 36 facilities, stadiums, and gymnasiums.
It also destroyed 125 schools and universities completely, and 337 partially, in addition to the complete destruction of about 201 government headquarters, according to the office.
The sector is thirsty
As of last June, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that 67% of water, sanitation, and infrastructure facilities in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or damaged as a result of the war.
According to a report by Oxfam last July, the war has damaged or destroyed five water and sanitation infrastructure sites every three days since the beginning of the war.
According to a joint statement by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Environmental Quality Authority issued on June 5, the total water available in the Gaza Strip is estimated at approximately 10% to 20% of the total water available before the aggression.
Thus, the Palestinian per capita share of water in the Gaza Strip declined by 94% during the war, as the citizen in Gaza could barely access 4.74 liters of water per day, compared to his access to about 26.8 liters per day in 2022, according to a previous report by the agency.
The share of the Palestinian individual in the Gaza Strip remains small, according to what was approved by the World Health Organization, which stipulates that each individual has the right to obtain 120 liters per day, including personal and home use.
The occupation army is deliberately using thirst as a weapon against the Palestinians in the war of extermination, according to human rights officials, which Oxfam has classified as “war crimes.” The army continues to prevent the entry of fuel needed to operate the remaining water stations in the Strip except in very scarce quantities, which hinders the arrival of fuel needed to operate the remaining water stations in the Strip. Palestinians to their small shares.
Oxfam indicated, in the same report, that the destruction of water and electricity infrastructure and restrictions imposed on the entry of spare parts and fuel (on average one-fifth of the required amount allowed to enter) led to a decrease in water production by 84% in Gaza, where 88% of water wells and 100 % of water desalination plants.
In this context, external water supplies from the Israeli water company “Mekorot” decreased by 78%.
Sanitation
Since the start of the war, the percentage of sewage pumps destroyed by the occupation has reached about 70%, in addition to the destruction of 100% of all sewage treatment plants and water quality testing laboratories, according to an Oxfam report.
This widespread destruction caused wastewater to leak into the streets and the tents of the displaced, and this tragedy worsens in the winter, causing the spread of diseases among the displaced.
Starvation
In addition to thirst, the occupation army uses starvation as a weapon to kill Palestinians in the genocidal war it is waging against them in Gaza, amid UN and international condemnation of this.
Since last November, when the features of the famine that began in the Gaza and northern governorates took shape due to the strict siege imposed on them, these difficult food conditions have continued, causing the death of about 36 children due to malnutrition.
Last June, UNRWA said in a statement that more than 50,000 children in the Gaza Strip are in urgent need of treatment for acute malnutrition, out of 1,67,986 children under the age of 18, according to a report by the Palestinian Central Agency.
The cycle of starvation continues as Israel prevents food aid from reaching the Gaza Strip except in limited quantities, in addition to targeting food stores that were located in the Strip, bakeries, aid trucks, and the hungry people waiting for their turn to receive aid.
According to a report published by Oxfam on September 6, 1 in 5 people living in Gaza face “catastrophic levels” of hunger, while the World Food Program said last July that half a million people in the Strip face “catastrophic levels.” “From hunger.
While about 600 trucks loaded with food supplies arrived in the Gaza Strip daily before the outbreak of war, the number has decreased to about 50 trucks or less, at a time when Israel prevents their entry on some days.
