Unemployment in the Gaza Strip has reached nearly 80% since the war with Israel erupted last October, the United Nations labour agency reported on Friday. This has brought the average unemployment rate across Palestinian territories to over 50%.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that unemployment in Gaza has reached 79.1%, while the West Bank has seen joblessness rise to nearly 32%. This results in a combined unemployment rate of 50.8% across the territories.
“This excludes Palestinians who have given up on finding a job,” said Ruba Jaradat, ILO Regional Director for Arab States. “The situation is much worse.”
The Israeli ground and air campaign in Gaza was a response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed around 1,200 people and took 253 more as hostages, according to Israeli figures. The offensive has resulted in over 36,500 deaths in Gaza, according to health authorities, where half of the 2.3 million population lived below the poverty line even before the conflict.
“With this very high level of unemployment, people will not be able to secure food for themselves and their families,” Jaradat added. “This is also impacting their health. Even if they have money, there are no hospitals that can accommodate the catastrophic situation there.”
Economically, the real gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by nearly 33% in the Palestinian territories since the start of the war. The Gaza Strip has seen an estimated contraction of 83.5%, while the West Bank’s GDP has decreased by 22.7%, according to ILO data.
“In the occupied Palestinian territory and particularly in the West Bank, the reduction in incomes has pushed many families into severe poverty,” Jaradat noted.
