The war, between Israel and Hamas, came at a time when the three Arab countries are facing a struggle with financial pressures, slow growth, and high unemployment rates. It has also hindered much-needed investment and harmed consumption and trade. Lebanon is suffering from a deep economic crisis.
The study, commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme, said that the cost of the war to the three countries in terms of losses in gross domestic product could reach $10.3 billion, or 2.3 percent of domestic product, and could double if the war continues for another six months.
“This is a huge impact,” Abdullah Al-Dardari, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director of the Regional Office for Arab States at the United Nations Development Programme, who supervised the study, told Reuters.
He added, “The crisis was like a bomb in an already fragile regional situation. Emotions were tense with fear of what might happen and where things would go.”
Al-Dardari said that the scale of destruction in Gaza during this short period is unprecedented since World War II.
He added, “Between 45 and 50% of the total number of homes were destroyed within one month of fighting… We have never witnessed anything like this before… The relationship between the level of destruction and time… is unique.”
Al-Dardari, a former deputy prime minister for economic affairs in Syria, went on to say, “It took Syria five years of fighting to reach the same level of destruction that Gaza reached in one month.”
Al-Dardari, an expert in reconstruction in conflict zones, explained that his team of experts is already communicating with development funds and multilateral financial institutions regarding post-war reconstruction scenarios in Gaza.
He said, without going into details, “We are not waiting for the battles to end. These efforts have begun.”
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